


Apologia

by Yzjdriel



Category: Warframe
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-08
Updated: 2019-07-08
Packaged: 2019-10-17 11:54:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 70,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17559923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yzjdriel/pseuds/Yzjdriel
Summary: The word 'Apologia' means 'a formal, written justification of one's actions, beliefs, and/or conduct'.This is the story of why (and how) Richard Erich caused a great deal of property damage, including (but most certainly not limited to):- a Balor Fomorian- a large planetoid containing a Corpus military installation- expectations of how a licensed physician would behave while there's a war onProbably an Alternate Universe fanfiction - depending on how close to canon some of our initial assumptions are.To read the companion stories to Apologia (which were written by some friends of mine):click here, then click "Chronicle" and "Darrin's Discourse".





	1. The World Needs Building

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aight, let’s get this out of the way.
> 
> If you play the game and are a lore buff, give this a hard pass.
> 
> If you don’t know ANYTHING about Warframe, read on! I’ll catch you up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crash course in Warframe lore in 5…
> 
> 4…
> 
> 3…
> 
> 2…
> 
> 1…
> 
> …

It is doubtful that most of the people who have managed to find this work will be unfamiliar with Warframe.  However, if you aren’t, this chapter will serve as a crash course in Warframe and the rich foundation of lore behind the story of the game, upon which foundation the story you are about to read is built.

  
  


WΛRFRΛME is a free-to-play third-person Massively-Multiplayer Online Game published by the Canadian independent games development studio Digital Extremes, whose other projects have included Epic Pinball, the Unreal franchise, and the PlayStation 3 port of BioShock.

First launched in October of 2012, Warframe has received constant updates, with minor hotfixes coming almost daily and Mainline Updates occurring regularly.  The game is the fully-realized potential of the original concept for what would eventually become Dark Sector, and serves as the spiritual successor to the same.

The game is 100% free-to-play, meaning that absolutely everything in the game that has a statistical bearing on gameplay can be obtained without a single purchase being made out of a player’s pocket (with the exception of the items included in the Founder’s Package - a kind of kickstarter program whose items are exclusive under penalty of law, as defined in the Founder’s Program Contract).  Like most games with a grind element, however, the player may always elect to pay real-world currency for the privilege of skipping that grind and obtaining the desired items immediately.

With a host of updates coming, a vibrant and welcoming community, and a robust free-market trading economy, Warframe is well-worth the hard drive space.

The following paragraphs will explain in greater detail the factions, locations, and terminology used in the world of Warframe that the author of this story takes his readers’ knowledge of as granted.

\- -

Firstly, this is a brief overview.  It is not intended to be comprehensive, but will cover the important events in the history of the story’s universe.

As a consequence of what this chapter is:

**SPOILER WARNING:**  This document (and the story itself) contains HEAVY SPOILERS about the lore-related contents of the Mainline Quests in the game.  If you are playing the game, or intend to play the game, and have not already finished The Sacrifice, DO NOT CONTINUE reading this document.

Right, then.  Proper warnings given, disclaimer written.

Let’s start at the beginning.

 

 

Long ago, humanity made utterly astonishing technological advances.  They terraformed the solar system, which allowed them to blossom and flourish.

Eventually, technological advances made a select few functionally immortal, through a process known as Continuity.  These people came to be called the Orokin, and ruled the system as gods. Not willing to do any menial work themselves, the Orokin created a subspecies of cloned humans to perform manual labor for them.  The rest of the population, while far more technologically advanced than these slave-clones, were still far inferior to the Orokin in both technological prowess and status in the society of the Orokin Empire. The race of clones came to be known as Grineer, and as time went on and clones became cloned themselves, the Grineer lost much of the intelligence other humans have.

Orokin society was decadent and luxurious, with architectural styles that emphasized massive structures with innumerable golden ornaments in long hallways and extremely high ceilings.  All objects made by the Orokin share this aesthetic, from basic tea sets and clothing to starships and weapons. Some high-ranking Orokin even modified their bodies to become supernaturally beautiful, changing their proportions, skin tone, hair and eye color, and even their voices.

In contrast with their futuristic splendor was their ancient attitude.  Much attention was given to ceremony and tradition, with honor, propriety, loyalty, and acceptance of the status quo being highly valued.  The seven ‘virtues’ of the Orokin were agility, cooperation, cunning, endurance, power, speed, and stealth. Society was highly stratified, with many sub-castes existing within each main caste.

The highest-ranking non-Orokin people were the Dax, the personal bodyguards of the Orokin.  Genetically engineered and technologically enhanced to be the perfect servant-soldiers, that same design meant no Dax could ever disobey an Orokin.

The heart of Orokin technology centered around their ability to harness a parallel dimension known as The Void.  In this extra-dimensional space, most known laws of physics simply cease to function.

 

Originally, the Orokin studied Void occurrences from afar, observing and cataloguing the distribution of galaxies and refining their cosmological evolutionary models.  Eventually, they entered a new age of cosmic exploration. Advancements in space travel partnered with a determined curiosity brought them closer to their object of study, and with it, revelation.

Interstellar slingshots called the Solar Rails were constructed.  The Rails “Punched” ships through the Void to their destination. A Rail was required at both ends of the transit - one to send, another to receive.

Later, the idea for a device known as a Fold Engine was proposed by researchers.  The Fold Engine would allow a starship to travel extreme distances the same way the Rails allowed them to.  However, the device itself would be very large, meaning that the Rails would still be needed for smaller vessels.  Tests were begun.

One day, the Orokin decided that one star system just wasn’t enough, so they decided to colonize the Tau Ceti system.  Because there was no Rail there, they decided to send a large number of automated drones to terraform the planets and build a Rail between Tau and the Outer Terminus Rail, which was located just beyond Pluto.

These drones possessed adaptive learning, a trait that would allow them to react to unforeseen circumstances in the Tau system; were multi-adaptive, allowing them to survive in virtually any environment; and could self-replicate, allowing them to replace any irreparably damaged units.  While some Executors thought that these drones should not possess machine learning, the drones were sent anyway, to prepare more worlds for the Empire. Because the Void interfered with their adaptive and reproductive abilities, it was assumed that the drones would be stranded at Tau when their task was done.

 

Later, the Zariman Ten-Zero was sent to Tau.  Because the Rail at Tau was not yet built, the Zariman had a Fold Engine; however, the ship did not Make the Fold.  When it did not reappear when and where it was supposed to, it was presumed lost.

 

At some point, while way out there, the drones became self-aware.  The Sentient realized that the Orokin were a bunch of decrepit despots who desiccated everything they touched, and decided to prevent the Orokin from desecrating another star system.  Instead of building worlds for the Orokin, they built machines of war.

 

Then the Zariman reappeared.  It had been sent with families on board, even though all Orokin officials denied this (it was, after all, against protocol for children to be on military ships).  When the ship returned from the hellscape of the Void, the only survivors were the children. These children had been through hell, exhibited strange abilities, and were hearing voices in their heads.

 

Having constructed their fighting force, the Sentient poured through the Rail at Terminus, determined to bring ruin to the Orokin.  And thus The Old War began.

 

The Zariman children began to exhibit surges of a terrible, uncontrollable power.  Their ordeal while in the Void had changed them. The Orokin believed that the Void itself, while a mysterious and potentially magnificent place, was inherently malevolent to humanity, and called the children devils.  Rather than kill them, an Archimedean named Margulis, who had been so badly burned by an outburst of Void energy while interacting with some of the children that she was completely blind, chose to save them instead, consigning them to a kind of stasis on Earth’s Moon, Lua.  In dreams, she found, the children were able to shut out the voices and gain more control over their powers.

 

Because she defied the Seven Executors, Margulis was condemned to death and executed for Apostasy.  The children, who were being called Tenno after the name of the ship they were on, heard of this and mourned the loss.

 

Orokin weapons proved largely useless against an enemy that could adapt to anything thrown at it.  The Sentient were laying waste to everything they encountered. The Orokin needed a solution, but nothing they tried was working.

Researchers eventually came up with an idea. They created a virus that could infect organic and technological components alike.  They called it ‘Technocyte’.

The Orokin unleashed it against the Sentient.

The Sentient adapted.

 

The citizens of the Empire did not.  The Infestation was born out of the Empire’s desperation.  It then proceeded to infect everything it touched, including planetary installations and even entire starships.  While individual Infested behave like rabid animals, the Infestation as a whole appears to exhibit a hive-mind of sorts.

 

The Executor Ballas, who had been romantically involved with Margulis, continued her work after her death.  He had created ‘frames of war’ by infecting certain individuals with a meticulously-tailored strain of the Infestation, causing their skin to “blossom into sword-steel”.  These prototypes were severely mentally scarred from the procedure and were just as likely to try to kill the Orokin as they were to fight the Sentient. Eventually, Ballas and his scientists came up with a way to calm them: the Tenno.  By connecting the mind of the Zariman children to the bodies of these "frames of war”, he was able to create a potent fighting force. The Warframe project was classified to the Executors’ eyes only, and the Tenno were sent to war.

 

The Sentient were unable to adapt to the Tenno and their Void-fueled powers.  The tide slowly turned until eventually the Orokin were winning the war. The Sentient retreated to the Rail at outer Terminus before destroying it as they retreated through it.  They would be back, everyone knew, but they would have to come the long way now.

 

The War wasn’t over, but it was as good as won as far as the Orokin were concerned.  True to form, they decided to throw a party. This party would be held at the Outer Terminus, and everyone was invited.*

*read: instructed to attend

 

The party was held.  The Tenno appeared, gleaming in their shiny formal wear.  The Orokin, described as “cold and gold lords” by a Low Guardian who was present, presented the Tenno with “savior’s silk”.  Then the ceremonial drums were to ring out ten beats in solemnity to commemorate the victory and signify that the suffering was over.

The Tenno had other plans.  At the ninth beat of the drums, the Tenno bared their steel and slaughtered the Orokin.  The Empire was no more.

 

Immediately following the events at Terminus came the event known as The Collapse.  During this time, three things happened. Because Orokin technology was gene-locked, only specific people could access or activate it.  Because all the ranking Orokin were dead, the entire Empire literally fell apart.

Now that the Orokin were out of the way, the Grineer seized their chance to fill the gap, becoming the new ruling power and seeking to destroy all that which was not Grineer.  They were fought to a standstill by the Corpus, the newly-formed conglomerate of salesman, tech moguls, and researchers who had done most of the work making the Orokin’s war machines during the War.  The Infestation wasn’t gone, either, so these three factions began to vie for control of the Origin System.

Lastly, the Tenno disappeared.  No one knew where they had gone, and in time, as generations passed, they gradually faded into the obscurity of legend.

 

Fast forward a few thousand years.  The exact amount of time is indeterminate and largely irrelevant.  The Tenno reawaken to find the Sentient gone, the Orokin long-dead, and the Origin System in chaos.  They gradually rebuild their society and begin to set things right, always aware that the Sentient were returning.…

\- -

This section covers the many different people, factions, and terminology that this story uses, not all of which is canon.

Obligatory SPOILER WARNING for some quests and lore for those who have not completed the Mainline Quests.

 

The  **Origin System** is our Solar System.

The  **Void** is a parallel dimension that the Orokin based much of their technology on and in.  Any amount of Void Energy is enough to cause severe cellular damage, burning organic matter like fire.  If it has a similar effect on inorganic material, it is at a greatly reduced rate: starships regularly travel through the Void with no deleterious effect.

The  **Orokin** were a race of immortal transhumans who were the rulers of an eponymous Empire many thousands of years ago.

The  **Sentient** are a race of self-aware machines who waged war on the Orokin long ago.  That conflict is known as  **The Old War** , and ended with the Sentient soundly defeated at the hands of the Tenno.

The  **Tenno** are a race of transhumans who are physically adolescents but mentally adults.  Exposed to extreme levels of Void Energy, they exhibit powerful abilities and an extremely reduced aging process.

A  **Warframe** is a specially-designed suit of armor that a Tenno can project their consciousness into via a process known as  **Transference** .  The Warframe allows the Tenno to channel their Void Powers in specific ways.  Each Warframe has a complement of five Abilities: four active (requiring deliberate activation and Energy for power) and one passive.

A  **Cephalon** is an artificial intelligence that is capable of interacting with denizens of the physical plane.  Residing in their own datascape, each Cephalon is governed by their  **Precepts** , which are collections of directives and algorithms.

**Cephalon Ordis** is the Ship Cephalon installed in the Orbiters of many Tenno.  While no other models are available in the game, the Clanfic features many other models, some being unique to a specific Tenno.

The  **Lotus** is a mysterious figure who guides the Tenno through missions and directs the greater military effort.  As the story progresses, she is revealed to be  **Natah** , a Sentient who was sent to kill the Tenno but ultimately refused, adopting them as her children instead, as she (like the rest of her kind) was barren.

 

The  **Grineer** are a militaristic race of clones bent on total domination of the Origin System.  They are becoming more and more degraded with time, as they have no “original” DNA samples left to clone and can thus only make an imperfect copy of a heavily-degraded genome.  The Grineer were originally a genetically-engineered subspecies of humans created by the Orokin to perform menial labor.

The  **Corpus** are a race of industrialists who specialize in technology and quite literally worship the concept of profit.  The Corpus were also originally human, and employ minimal augmentation. They do not fight their own battles, instead sending cyborgs and purely-mechanical proxies to do the shooting for them.

The  **Infestation** is a nearly-mindless horde of what were once humans and machines who have been infected with the  **Technocyte** virus.  The Infestation can convert biomechanical matter, whether it is living or dead (or operable or inoperable, as the case may be).  They have been mostly contained to Eris and a large cluster of old Orokin derelicts, but outbreaks occur in other places from time to time.  The Tenno are immune to the Infestation, likely due to the extreme amount of Void energy that courses through them.

 

**Humans** still exist.  They’re mostly civilians, and many live in colonies or with one of the Syndicates.

The six major  **Syndicates** are large, well-organized groups of humans, who all have their own organizational structure, goals, and methods.  Not all of them get along. These Syndicates are commonly referred to as Steel, Hexis, Suda, Perrin, Veil, and Loka.

**Steel Meridian** is a group of humans and ex-Grineer who aim to protect “the little guy” - the small groups of humans who can’t do it themselves.  Loosely organized into an army of sorts, they are led by  **Cressa Tal** .

**The Arbiters of Hexis** are a small group of mysterious people who revere the Tenno but reject the idea that the Tenno are nothing more than warriors and mercenaries.  The Syndicate itself is the group of people who work for them and follow their teachings.

**Cephalon Suda** is, simply put, programmed to be curious.  She wants to know everything there is to  _ know  _ about everything there is to know  _ about _ .  Her pursuit of knowledge is matched only by her abhorrence of violence.  Her followers, employees, and fellow knowledge-seekers form the Syndicate she lends her name to.

**The Perrin Sequence** is a splinter group of Corpus who have rejected the idea that conflict is the best way to achieve profit.  As their leader,  **Ergo Glast** , says, “We see the numbers differently.”  Peace is profitable, too - especially where Tenno are involved.

**The Red Veil** is a shadow cult of priests and assassins founded after the thoughts (and ramblings) of a misunderstood Tenno who was on the autism spectrum named  **Rell** .  They seek to purify the system in a cleansing fire so that society can rebuild a better world from the ashes. The Tenno point-of-contact is  **Cantis** .

**New Loka** is a group of nature-revering humans who wish to return Earth and humanity to its ‘natural’ state: the state it was in before the Orokin - and more recently, the Grineer - started messing with it.  They are led by “the Mothers”, and the Tenno point-of-contact is  **Amaryn** .

 

There are also other groups and notable figures.

**Teshin Dax** is a Dax soldier who has somehow survived from the time of the Collapse to the present day.  He runs  **the Conclave** , a kind of crucible that pits Tenno against Tenno to sharpen their skills in preparation for the inevitable return of the Sentient.  Later, during the events of the War Within, he helps the Tenno to unlock their true potential by forcing them to un-repress memories of their time on the Zariman.

**Cephalon Simaris** is the Caretaker of a project he calls  **Sanctuary** .  He wants to have a digital representation of every living thing in the system in his Sanctuary, and tasks the Tenno with acquiring data scans for him so he can construct those models.

 

**Darvo Bek** is the son of a member of the Corpus  **Board of Directors** who sells wares to the Tenno in defiance of his father.  His best friend is an adorable failed clone named Clem.

**Clem** is a Grineer whose genetic loyalty to the Grineer Queens (who are also called the Kweens) is nonexistent.  He is best friends with Darvo, works for Steel Meridian, has a “pet” roller grenade, and can only say two words: “Clem” and “Grakata” - his own name and the name of his favorite guns.

**Maroo** is a human thief who has managed to start up a booming business by creating a  **Bazaar** where Tenno can trade stuff with each other.  She’s also figured out how to turn Ayatan statues into Endo.

 

The  **Twin Queens** are the sister-rulers of the Grineer empire.  They reside on the  **Kuva Fortress** .  During the events of The War Within in the game, the Elder Queen is either critically injured or killed - the game is unclear.  In our story, both Queens are killed, and the Fortress itself is taken over by Steel Meridian.

**Captain Vor** used to be a General, but was demoted by the Kweens when he failed spectacularly in an attempt to capture a Tenno fresh out of cryosleep.  After he was bisected by that same Tenno, the  **Janus Key** healed him.  He now roams the Void, babbling about how he now knows “the truth”.

**Councillor Vay Hek** is a Grineer who has modified himself so much that only his face is left of his organics.  His armies patrol  **the Plains of Eidolon** , a massive area on Earth where an old Sentient roams at night.

**General Sargas Ruk** is the leader of an excavation team who collects artifacts for his Kweens.  He is obsessed with fire.

**Lieutenant Lech Kril** is a Grineer who just really likes his hammer.  No one is exactly sure what he does, but he’s a planet boss in the game.

**Kela de Thaym** is the Grineer who runs  **Rathuum** \- the Grineer trial-by-combat arena that also serves as the empire’s primary form of entertainment.  She also enjoys being overly dramatic and makes truly excellent puns.

**Tyl Regor** is a Grineer researcher who is attempting to solve the gene degradation problem.  He calls his experiments “tube-men” and claims to love them.

 

**Nef Anyo** is a Corpus who has found a new religion: The Void.  This self-proclaimed “prophet of profit” has attempted many a get-rich-quick scheme to fund AnyoCorp.  None have worked. (Trivia: in the game, Tylenol and Neffy are voiced by the same person!). His Tax-Men roam  **the Orb Vallis** , a massive, frozen wasteland on Venus (praise the wonders of Orokin terraforming tech).

**Alad V** is a Corpus researcher who has dissected thousands of Warframes, using his findings to create  **Zanuka** , a “pet” comprised of Warframe components that answers only to him.  He later experimented with the  **Mutalist Strain** of the Infestation, infecting himself in the process.  Much later, he managed to completely regain his individuality and was cured. 

**Frohd Bek** is a member of the Corpus Board of Directors and Darvo’s father.  He created the  **Ambulas** in an attempt to make a Tenno-killing machine.  The Tenno, of course, killed it first. Multiple times.  Messily.

 

The  **Stalker** was a Low Guardian who watched in horror at Terminus.  When the Tenno returned, he began hunting them down.  He poses no real threat to any well-equipped Tenno.

 

**Clans** are groups of Tenno under a common banner.  Leadership style and the degree to which each Clan is close-knit varies.

  
  


Everything above this sentence is canon, and everything below it is the expansion on it used in our story.   
  
  


The Clanfic centers around the  **Clan Miraalan** , which was led by the  **Arbiter** known as  **Marsis** before the Collapse.

A group of humans on another colony ship similar to the Zariman Ten Zero found another world outside the Origin System.  They called it  **New Eden** .  Eventually, it was decided that the planet should be renamed.  The name chosen was “phoenix”, but when a child misspelled it on the ‘official’ sign, the misspelling was adopted as accurate and correct, making the name “ **Phenix** ”.

Miraalan has been working with Phenix to create a human military capable of defending itself without Tenno (and even FROM Tenno, if necessary), and each Syndicate maintains an embassy on the planet.  However, the existence of Phenix is still held as a closely-guarded secret.

The **Tenno High Council** , not to be confused with the **Miraalan Clan Council** , is the ruling body of all affiliated Tenno Clans (the overwhelming majority of Tenno).  They are led by **Alanaris Ven** , or **Alan** for short.

The Tenno are governed by the Code, which is kept by  **Councillor Cas** .

 

Miraalan itself is led by its two  **Arbiters** ,  **Ryoko** and  **Darrin** .  Other members of Miraalan’s Council include the  **Harbingers** ( **Silas** ,  **Richard** , and  **Tirian** ) and the Clan’s Doctor,  **Katherine** .

The Clan is governed by its  **Charter** and by Council Rulings, of which Richard is the official keeper and arbitrator.

_ The real-life Clan Miraalan is similarly governed: the official Charter of Clan Miraalan can be found by clicking the appropriate link from the Clan’s website. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have (hopefully polite) questions? Have (hopefully relevant) comments? Hell, have any (hopefully at least halfway to quasi-relevant) memes? Drop me a line at sarcasticmathematician @ gmail.com (email address broken to hopefully reduce the amount of crawler-generated flotsam that appears in my inbox) and I'll (maybe) reply in a reasonable* amount of time.
> 
> *the word "reasonable" is hereby defined as "whenever the hell I get around to it, schedule permitting" (what can I say, I'm a busy dude!)


	2. Ashes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our story begins in the only logical place: the same place the game begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Ashes Arc:  
> In which Richard wakes from cryosleep and acquires equipment, the author time-skips ahead more than a year, and Richard meets some of his future Clanmates.
> 
> For reference, the time-skip occurs between Chapters 2 and 3, and the significant events that take place during it are covered later in flashbacks. It was necessary to skip that timeframe for multiple reasons:
> 
> \- plot convenience (I needed to get the story going, after all)  
> \- character development (Richard's flashbacks won't occur until much later in the story, which gives me time to develop his character before showing you an aspect of him that isn't evident early on)  
> \- flashback mode is a convenient way to insert content into what would otherwise be dull arcs (by using flashbacks, I can pad smaller, less content-rich arcs that contain important world developments (from the standpoint of my plot outline, anyway), but little to no actual story content, with pieces of memory and/or backstory that add the story value everyone's here for)  
> \- character growth (it is difficult to show growth in a character without first establishing a character - for that reason, flashback mode (and thus character growth) has to wait until character development has occurred!)

**Ashes - Chapter 1**

“Wake up, Tenno.”  The voice was female, and he didn’t recognize it.

SLAM.  Richard hit the ground a little too hard.  Why hadn’t his Warframe’s shock absorbers absorbed the impact?  “Ow…” More importantly, why was he awake? The whole point of going into cryosleep in the first place was to avoid getting banged up, right?  Wait, what? Why hide from combat by hiding from life?

“I see your Lotus has tried to wake you,” said a second voice, this one male.  “Pity she’s too late. You’re my prize now, Tenno.” Something clicked into his left calf: a decidedly  _ unfriendly _ something.  Male voice belongs to an enemy.

“What has he done to you?  I can’t lose another Tenno.  I am surging your Warframe’s power systems.”

His systems WERE surging.  Female voice is a friend, at least for now.  Richard stood, reached for his weapons- they weren’t there.

Back to the basics, then.  He’d worn Excalibur into cryosleep on the off-chance this exact scenario unfolded when he awoke.  Wait, how did he know that? Why would he need to be ready for combat when waking from a sleep that had supposedly been meant to avoid combat?  No time to think about that; right now, he needed to find a way out of here.

Whatever these things that kept charging into the room to meet their death were, they didn’t come equipped with anything that could stand up to a full-power Warframe.  Besides, every one of them he killed gave him more ammo for the gun he’d taken from the first to fall. It was an automatic with a decent fire rate, but the accuracy was BALLS.  He’d trade up first chance he got.

After about five minutes, he reached an open area with no sign of anyone.  He began walking through the middle of the room.

“150 degrees,” said the female voice.  Turning to his 5-o’clock, Richard saw a crate with no lid.  Inside was a pile of swords, and all of them were skana.

“Wonderful selection they’ve got here,” he said sarcastically as he selected the only one that wasn’t damaged.  “Thanks.”

“You need to keep moving.  Vor has surely summoned reinforcements by now.”  Okay, he had a gun and a sword now, and his systems were still surging.  He could hold this room indefinitely if he didn’t turn his back on the door.  Time to get some answers from maybe-friend-lady.

“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on.  Who are you? Where am I? Who’s Vor? How did the Grineer find me?”  Grineer. How’d he know that’s what they were called?

“Tenno, you need to get out of here.  We have a ship coming to get you out.”

“Well, the ship can wait.  I’m not leaving this room until I’m satisfied you’re not leading me into a trap.”

“Tenno, if I hadn’t woken you, you would be dead now.”

“I have a yellow blinky thing on my leg that says different.”

“Vor put an ascaris on you?  There’s even less time. Tenno, that’s a brain parasite that will render your free will useless in a matter of hours.  You need to get to extraction.”

“Tell me who you are or I’ll sit here and let whatever happens happen.”

“I am the Lotus.  I serve as a guide and sponsor of the Tenno.”

“Who are the Tenno to you?”

“You are the children I always wanted.”

“So you’re saying you’re, like, my mother?  That’s a little weird coming from someone who sounds younger than me.”

“I put you to sleep, watched you, protected you, and I woke you before you could be killed.  You need to move. NOW!” Her voice was rising.

“So you ARE scared I may die here?  Seems you’re a friend after all. Where do I go?  My HUD’s just come online.”

“I have marked extraction on your map.  If you find any usable weapons on your way there, take them.  You’ll need them later.”

“I thought you said there was a ship?” he asked.

“There is.  But ships need fuel eventually.  You were asleep for nearly two millennia.”

“ _ Terrific _ .”

“It’s not ideal, but it’s all we have to work with.”

Richard agreed with the first part of that statement wholeheartedly.

\- -

Radial Javelin was fun.  Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be able to keep this up forever.  His Warframe had stopped surging about half an hour ago, and he would be completely out of energy in another five minutes.

The first extraction ship had come within three meters of the maximum distance he could vertically pole vault (he’d found a particularly sturdy bar of steel a while back and had been using it as a quarterstaff) and promptly exploded.  According to the Lotus, the next ship would take “an hour to get here, and that’s if we’re lucky”. There were still 15 minutes to go until the next ship would supposedly arrive.

“More.  Ready your weapon.”

_ More _ was an understatement.  There were hundreds. “What am I supposed to do  _ now _ ?  I’ve got a gun with an accuracy of about 12%, 500 bullets, and a sword.  I’m seeing rocket launchers.”

“You can take them.”

“Lotus, my gun will kill about 60 of them, and between this piece of steel and my short, piece-of-crap sword, I’ll get about 100 more.  I count at  _ least _ 400\.  What do I do?”

“You fight them.  You are a Tenno. You’ll win.”

So Richard fought them.  He actually managed to get about 250 of them before another 400 arrived.  “550 of them now, Lotus, and I’m completely out of ammo.”

The Lotus strangled a sob.  “Die on your feet, with your energy pool dry and your sword soaked in blood.”  She really  _ did _ care what happened to him, he realized.  Which was good, because he had no intention of dying today.

“Yeeeah, I think I’ve got a better idea.”  Richard dropped a smoke bomb.

“Where did you find that?”

“In my pocket.  You didn’t think I’d go into cryo without SOME kind of defense against overwhelming odds on the other side, did you?”

“You remember what happened before going in?”  She sounded both hopeful and apprehensive.

“Haven’t the foggiest clue what happened back then, but I  _ do _ know who  _ I _ am.  Which means  _ somewhere _ in this ‘frame of mine I’ve got at least four more of those buggers.”

The Lotus laughed, her voice still shaky.  “Tenno, you are wonderful.”

Richard was starting to like her.  “Thanks, Mom.”

**Ashes - Chapter 2**

 “Tenno, I’ve been observing your combat style for seven weeks, and I still have no idea what it is.”

Richard laughed.  “You could have asked, you know.  I’m something of a heretic healer.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I’ll keep you alive, but mostly by killing everything before it kills you.”

“Why do you wear Zephyr, then?”

“Because she’s FUN.  Besides, Rejuvenation is the best heal I’ve got.”

“Why haven’t you looked into a Warframe with healing abilities?”

“We have those?”

“Three of them.”

“Which ones?”

“Equinox is the most battle-ready for solo missions due to her duality of day and night aspects, and the other two are Oberon and Trinity.”

“What do they specialize in?”

“Oberon is the willful, the mystic.  Trinity is the healer, the equalizer.”

“Which one dishes out more damage regularly while still keeping everyone unequivocally alive?”

“Equinox’s abilities cannot heal and harm at the same time.”

“Okay, so she’s out, at least for now.  What’s Oberon good at?”

“Oberon has the highest damage-per-energy output.”

“Good to know, but what about Trinity?”

“Trinity does not possess any offense-related abilities, but she has the only full-heal-and-invulnerable ability.”

“Invulnerable?”  That sounded a lot more like his style.

“When Trinity uses Blessing, all allies gain damage reduction equal to the greatest amount of restoration given.”

“How do I get her?”

“Go to Phobos.”

Richard went to Phobos.

\- -

Phobos is one of those places you want to leave before you’ve even landed.  He’d been stuck here for four months. The extraction ship had decided to go pick up another Tenno from cryosleep, so everything Richard owned was in a stack of boxes in an out-of-the-way storage room that none of the Grineer even knew was there.  He had to get a little bolder every day if he wanted food, so it was good to have a place to crash. “Oh, what I wouldn’t give for a ship and a shower…”

“Operator, are you there?  I’ve been looking all over this MISERABLE PIECE OF UNINHABITED SLAG- dusty moon, and I haven’t found any signs of you.”

Richard knew that voice.  “Ordis?”

“Oh, thank  _ heavens _ !  Operator, my sensors detected possible Tenno life signs; I decided to investigate this area again.  I have just landed in what appears to be an abandoned hangar.”

“I can see you on my map.  I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

\- -

“Trinity Warframe construction completed, Operator.  May I suggest breaking her in somewhere with lots of unsuspecting enemies?”

Richard really liked Ordis.

 

**Ashes - Chapter 3**

Richard knew he’d been solo for too long when he found he didn’t get along with other Tenno anymore.  He used to be just a random Trinity pilot who’d stay with the squad for a mission or six, do his job without speaking a word, and leave.  Now he wasn’t being spoken  _ to _ , either.  Silent missions were no fun.

He decided to find a high-traffic area on Eris, wait for a group people who still had their souls to show up, and follow them to the fun times.

\- -

It didn’t take him as long to find one as he’d expected.  “Operator, I’m detecting excited comm chatter.”

“Patch it through.  Let’s hear what they’re so excited about.”

“… and we’ll just bounce around destroying everything and anything that gets close to Ryoko will die and we’ll take all their stuff and I’ll get to build something cool!”

“You built something cool yesterday, Vahlin.”

“Yeah, but I already  _ sold _ that.  I want something shiny!”

“You already  _ have _ something shiny!”

“Well, then I want something shini _ er _ , Darrin!”

Oh yeah, these were the people.  “Ordis, find the reactor on that facility so I can destroy it on their way out.”

“You’re going with them?”

“I’m going at the same  _ time _ as them, but I’m not gonna let them know I’m there unless I want to join them for a while.”

“Are you sure that is wise?  You tend to leave a mess behind you, and while that is always the best course of action with Infested, the other Tenno will be sure to notice.”

“We’ll see.”

\- -

They were a pretty competent squad militarily speaking, despite their fun-loving attitude.  He’d been following them for a while now, listening to their comms. They worked well together, seemed to be good friends, and didn’t panic when hordes of enemies came out of everywhere.  He’d been dropping a few subtle hints that he was there all day: a squeaky boot here, the tail end of an EV that just barely caught one of them there, a pile of corpses in a room they had yet to explore…  They were a little confused, but they were doing just fine on their own.

Unfortunately for them, Red Veil had a bone to pick with at least one of them.  Things got a touch dicey then.

“Okay, spread out.  I’ll throw some bubbles down.  Darrin, try and slow them down so we can pick them off.”

“Ryoko, I’m out of ammo!”

“You’ve still got your pistol, we’ll be fine.  Darrin, your bubble’s gone!”

“That’s okay; we’ve still got the ot-gurk!”  A juggernaut had come around the corner and plowed straight into Darrin from behind.  Ryoko immediately vaulted behind it and began firing at it, but the juggernaut flicked its tail and a he went down in a shower of spines.

“Darrin!” yelled the one named Vahlin.  “Ryoko! No!” Okay, he’d let this go on long enough.  As much as he had enjoyed watching them work together, he couldn’t let them waste precious adrenaline shots for something as unimportant as Red Veil, juggernaut or no.

“Vahlin, RUN!”

“Nooooooooope, nope nopenopenopenope.  You DON’T get to die. That is AGAINST the rules.  Noooooo…” Blessing gave him literal invulnerability this time, due to how close the two had been to death, and Richard had Link up before he’d even hit the ground, Galatine in hand.  They made short work of the remaining enemies.

“Who the HELL are YOU?”

“I am Richard.  And I hereby declare that nobody gets to die.”

“Have you been here the WHOLE TIME?”

Richard paused, then decided to just tell the truth.  “Pretty much.”

“You ASS!  You could’ve helped us!”

“He  _ is _ helping us.”

“Well, he could have done it EARLIER.”  Vahlin let loose a Fireball that knocked Richard off his feet.  Above him, his Helios belched, and a muffled thump told him there had been something directly behind him.

“I must apologize for Vahlin’s tone,” began Ryoko, “and I hope-”

“Your friend is correct,” Richard cut him off with a dismissive wave as he stood up.  “I should not have concealed my presence here. My most sincere apologies for not coming to your aid sooner, Vahlin, but I wished to see if your group was still in possession of the spark of vitality that so many Tenno have lost.”

“What do you mean?” asked Darrin.

“For a long time now, I have seen Tenno slogging around planets and killing Grineer, but they never put any joy into it.  They never speak to each other anymore. I wanted to see if your group still put a touch of fun in everything.”

“We certainly try to,” said Ryoko.  “You have our gratitude for saving us, Richard.”

“Do not thank me, Ryoko.  I made an error in judgement when I chose not to join you in combat.”

“You certainly did,” began Vahlin, but Darrin cut him off.

“Vahlin!  That’s enough.  That man just saved us.”

“Think nothing of it.  Again, my most sincere apologies for not stepping in sooner.  I would hope that we could all become friends.”

“That...  _ is _ a possibility.  Will you be accompanying us on our next mission?”

“I would be honored, if Vahlin will permit me.  But first, may I offer you all the use of my personal resource stash for the use of completing foundry projects as atonement for my error?  You may take any items you require.”

“That will not be necessary,” said Darrin and Ryoko simultaneously.

“I feel that it will ease Vahlin’s mind if I provide recompense for any perceived wrongdoing at our first meeting, especially if such a perception is correct.”

Ryoko responded this time.  “Very well. Vahlin, you may accept his offer if you wish, but I will respectfully decline.”

“Suit yourself, mate, but free parts are free parts.  Vahlin?”

“I don’t need any materials,” said Vahlin.

“Then at least take a catalyst for your weapon.”

“You’d just  _ let _ me take a catalyst from you?”

“I have no need for it right now, and I can always build more if one is required later.  Please. I insist.”

“Thank you.”

“I trust that moving forward we will stand together?”

“If you’re expecting me to agree with you-“

“I am not.  Differences in opinion are inevitable between friends.  What I wish is merely that we have each other’s back.”

“ _ That _ I can accept.”

“Then I look forward to keeping you alive for many battles to come.”


	3. Shifting Sands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part of this chapter refers to an event that Ryoko was involved in that doesn't take place on-page anywhere in any of the connected works. This particular omission was an oversight on the part of the authors and shall be rectified here.
> 
> A group of Tenno disillusioned with the leadership of the Tenno High Council and the Lotus staged a coup, attempting to kill the Lotus and several prominent High Council members. Ryoko was part of the group that fought with the Council to save the lives of the threatened leaders, and ended up killing some of the leaders of the coup. Due to this, as well as other events that are only ever alluded to on-page (for literary reasons), Ryoko suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Markhor: Shifting Sands  
> In which I introduce the plot hooks for Project Sinkhole, Tenno politics, Richard's relationship with Katherine, briefcase mode, and a few others, as well as advance a plotline that began running off-page. See the Chapter Summary for more details.

**Shifting Sands - Chapter 1**

_I’m getting tired of this_ , thought Richard.  He turned back to face the Corpus merchant.

"I'm only going to say this once, boy.  You don't want me to put this helmet back on."

"Why not?  I won't have to see your man's face sticking out of that female body."

"If you make me put this helmet back on, it will be the last thing you ever see."

"Maybe it will be.  You've already told me you're not gonna pay me."

"Oh, I'll _pay_ you all right.  I've give you the most valuable thing in the universe: your life."

"You think my life is worth money to me?"

"Not to _you_ , maybe.  But to your customers?  To your employer? To the Sequence?"

"You're ALLIED with the Sequence, you son of a-"

"I'm _allied_ with _New Loka_.  The fact that the Sequence gets along with New Loka is neither my fault nor my preference."

"You haven't even asked me any questions yet."       

"I'm not going to ask you any questions until I know you'll give me truthful answers.  You could always send me on a wild goose chase, and I wouldn't know until I've chased the goose."

"You speak in strange metaphors, Tenno."

"Obviously they aren't that strange: if they were, I wouldn't be using them."

"You have an odd logic about you."

"Do I?  Have you considered the possibility that my logic is perfect, and it is instead _your_ logic that is odd?"

"I considered it, and then I realized that your logic is more odd than I originally thought."

Richard smiled.  "You're the first non-Tenno to realize that I'm not as insane as I sound."

"I doubt you sound so insane to your own kind."

"We say the same of your people."

"I'm sure you do."

"So we understand each other, then?"

"I understand only that you cannot be reasoned with."

"I can _always_ be reasoned with.  But when dealing with Corpus, you must think the way Corpus do.  There is nothing you can offer me that I value more than the information I require.  I make the most profit from the information, and anything else you offer me I can obtain by other means."

"You can steal it, you mean."

"I _could_ steal it, true.  I could also _buy_ it.  Or _trade_ for it.  Or convince the _Grineer_ to steal it, kill _them_ , and _then_ keep it."

"Is that supposed to scare me?"

"If the truth scares you, then it's a sad life you live."

"Maybe I live a sad life."

"Maybe you do.  But I'll tell you what.  I know your name, Rho Cestra.  I also know you have gone by the name Ico Etina, Alad V's left-hand man.  Oh yes," he continued when the Corpus' face paled. "I'm not some uneducated rabble looking for a quick hit for some extra scrip.  I'm a _Tenno_.  And I want to know where I can find Arn Prova and Deri Spectra."

"Prova I can take you to see.  Spectra, however, I cannot find."

"See, _this_?" said Richard, exasperated.  "This is why I don't like the Corpus.  You think that giving me half of what I want is sufficient to spare your life.  How do you know I don't already know where they both are?"

"If you knew, you wouldn't be asking me."

"Or I could be asking you to see if the Corpus know where two of their most infamous renegades are.  After all, I would think you'd want to know if they're the masterminds behind Project Sinkhole, or if there are greater forces at work here."

"I'm sure _someone_ knows where they both are.  But why would they tell _me_ , when Alad V is by far the most hated Corpus in living memory?"

"The Grineer would argue that you all are the most hated Corpus that still breathe."

"Is there a point to this?"

"Not really.  I'm just killing time.  So, you can take me to Arn Prova?"

\- -

Arn Prova was dead before he got there.  Because OF COURSE he was. Heaven forbid Richard could get any information out of anyone before they just up and died.  It was time to set this problem aside for the moment, though. Passing Cestra a thin stack of credits, Richard turned to leave.  "If you hear anything about Spectra, I'll pay according to the usefulness of the information."

"You'll be the third person to hear anything I do."

Richard supposed that was the best he could expect from the Corpus.

 

**Shifting Sands - Chapter 2**

Someone in handcuffs was being escorted out of the Dojo.  Richard reached for his gun, then stopped when he realized who it was.  It was that annoying guy from the Council, the one who wore Excalibur Prime.  The guy who'd always had it out for Ryoko, or at least he had ever since New Eden was founded.

Curious, Richard entered the hangar proper just as a Volt Prime exited the dojo.  Richard had expected arcs of electricity running all over his frame, not the intangible radiation of pure power he felt.  All the same, the man was unmistakable. "Alan?" The Tenno Council leader looked over.

"Hello, Richard.  I'm afraid I'm just leaving.  Is there something I can help you with?"

"No, but thank you.  I was just wondering why two Council members are leaving our Dojo under such differing states of freedom."

"Ah, that.  Your Arbiters will explain.  Good day."

"Good day, Councillor."  Now thoroughly confused, he walked into the dojo to find nearly the entire Clan standing in a loose arc behind Darrin and Ryoko, weapons drawn and faces taut.  "I'm assuming something not-so-friendly just went down?" he asked, carrying his Sancti Tigris loosely in his left hand. "Or was that someone who just LOOKS like our friend from the Council?"

"No, that was Marcus," Darrin replied.  "He tried to relieve Ryoko of his post as Arbiter."

"I'm guessing our legal department had a few words to mince in that regard," Richard said with a smirk.  "And judging by the number of weapons I'm seeing, Marcus wasn't backing down."

"Alan paid us a visit and resolved the situation before anyone shot him," Ryoko said.  "Finn here may have actually done it."

" _Not true_ ," said Finn, his Chroma’s pelt undulating.  "But very few people keep their cool when facing a flak cannon."

"Ain't that the truth," laughed Darrin, whose own Hek was renowned by many as the most devastating shotgun ever to find its way into close proximity with the Grineer.

"I take it there are conditions for Ryoko staying here, even though it was against about 3700 rules and regulations to attempt to remove him in the first place?"

"How did you guess that-"

"Politics, Darrin.  Politics screws up EVERYTHING.  Including its own methods."

"I have to submit myself for psychological evaluation and treatment," said Ryoko.

"I assume Katherine and I have been designated your primary caregivers."

" _Just_ me, thank you very much," said Katherine.  "I don't trust you anywhere near his psyche."

"I know a thing or two about killing people you considered family," said Richard flatly.  "It's not something you just move on from. And unless _you_ , the _healer_ , have killed another Tenno, I consider you incapable of single-handedly helping him through this.  And if you _have_ intentionally killed other Tenno, I no longer want you as my healer."

She took a step back.  "Richard, that's-"

"Katherine, you are no killer.  So don't think you can tell me I'm not qualified to be a psychiatrist when you yourself are incapable of empathizing with the patient."

"Richard, I know _exactly_ how to deal with-"

"Katherine, you _can't_ just _talk this out_ .  You _can't just talk_ about something like this!"

"Richard, you have no idea what you're-"

"Katherine, some problems can only be solved with the sword."

"Why," said Katherine, fuming, fists clenched, "do you ALWAYS turn to ki-"

"Did I say I wanted him to kill things?" Richard said icily through gritted teeth.  "Why do you ALWAYS assume I mean killing things?"

"Enough," said Darrin, stepping between them.  "It's up to Ryoko who he sees anyway, so long as he does not refuse treatment."

"I'm going to leave this up to Katherine," said Ryoko, "because I prefer not to start a fight with my psychiatrist."

"And I don't think you can do anything for him, Richard," said Katherine, "so if you'll please let me do my job?"

Richard held out his hand to Katherine.  "You and I have very different roles in this Clan, Katherine, but our goals are the same: keep everyone alive and well, body and mind.   _I_ , for one, do not believe in endangering the peace of the Clan for something as petty as who gets to play shrink.  Are we in agreement?"

Katherine hesitated, realized he was serious, then took his hand and shook it firmly.  "We are. And do we _also_ agree that our roles pertain only to the area in which they are performed?"

"We do.  You care for our Clan in times of peace and times of conflict.  I merely ensure they make it back to your infirmary with breath in their body."

"You do more than, that, Richard," she said, releasing his hand.  "You keep them alive when I'm not there to help them. You make sure they have a home to return to.  Yes, I keep it running," she said with a wave of her hand when he started to argue. "But without the work you do in the field, this place would not exist.  You do the job I never could: you keep them in combat while they're still being shot at."

"And you make sure they can go into combat in the first place," Richard reminded her as they walked into the infirmary.  They must have been walking and talking, but Richard hadn't noticed. "Without you, I would have no job."

"Without you, my job would be useless."

"It appears we're in a love-hate relationship, you and I."

"So it would seem.  Though it seems to me that it's only hate when others are watching."

"That's true under both interpretations of the phrase."

"Pardon?" she asked.

"There is little love lost between us when others look on, and we only seem to argue when we're being observed."

"You make a good point," she said thoughtfully.  "Shall we continue this discussion over a meal?"

"Perhaps tomorrow evening?"

"That is acceptable."  She smiled. "We'll have to be sure to keep the discussion strictly business whenever anyone approaches," she added, a mischievous twinkle in her eye.  "Otherwise they might think we're on a date."

Richard clicked his tongue while wagging a finger at her.  "Katherine, our relationship is strictly professional, even if we are friends outside our professions."

"Platonic, is that what you mean?"

"You know me.  Besides, what would the Clan say?  We hate each other, remember?"

"I'm pretty sure there are already rumors."

"Then why feed them?" he asked.

"Maybe I think they're hungry?" she said with a smirk.

"Better to let them starve than see Darrin's face if they pick up again."

"He's confused by our lack of physical violence toward each other, isn't he?"

"He knows we aren't involved, so he can't quite wrap his head around why we aren't physically at each other's throats, yes."

"Well," she said with a smirk, "maybe you should find a girlfriend."

"Maybe I should,” he agreed.  “Any suggestions?"

"None at the moment.  How is your project going?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Slowly.  I'm having trouble compressing parts of the neural circuitry."

"I may have some nanotech that can help.  Of course, you'd have to tell me what you'd be doing with it."

"That's not gonna happen."

"So you say."

"I'll see you tomorrow, Katherine."

"Let's see how many times we have to dine together for the rumors to come back, shall we?" she asked as he was halfway out the door.

"Once will be enough, especially if we share a few laughs."

"Perhaps."

"You just want to have more than one meal with me, don't you?"

"Maybe."

"I'm not your type, Katherine."

"And I'm not yours.  Yet all the same, we're having dinner tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Katherine."

 

**Shifting Sands - Chapter 3**

The shell of the frame was easy enough to compress, but the systems and neural interface were more difficult.  Even so, he'd managed to get most of a Zephyr and about half of a Trinity compressed to a workable size. The last few centimeters would require some of Katherine's tools, though.  Richard teleported back to the nanotech lab to find Tak and Darrin peering at the compression cycling machine. "You're not going to figure out what I'm doing just by looking at part of the picture at close range, you two."

"No, but we can at least narrow it down.  That's a neural interface from the inside of a Frost helmet."

"I'm impressed.  You know your frame almost as well as I know mine."

"Richard, whose frame did you take it from?"

"If I decline to comment on that, will you let it go?"

"What if you took it from mine?!"

"I had a spare cosmetic helmet."

"You took apart the _Squall_?" Darrin asked, shocked.

"It was just the regular Frost helmet.  I had two, so I disassembled one."

"Alright, that's reassuring to hear," said Darrin.  "I still can't figure out why you're messing with the compression of circuitry from a frame you rarely use."

"Maybe that's why I'm doing it."

"I suppose.  See you around."  He left the lab.

"Vahlin, Simon, Artis, and I are going to a Relay for dinner tonight, Richard," said Tak.  "You in?"

"Not tonight, Tak.  I've got a dinner meeting with a colleague."

"No worries.  See you around!"  Tak dissipated.

"Wish I could do that,” Richard said, shaking his head.

\- -

"Is this some kind of joke?" asked Katherine.

"Uhh, no..." said Richard.

"Since when do you use Vauban?"

"In combat?  Since never. For work?  It's been a while, I'll admit."

"So why dig him out now?"

"I was trying to tech some stuff earlier and I thought maybe he'd help."

"Did it work?"

"Partially.  I made some headway, but I will still be needing your help."

"You have to tell me what for, Richard."

Richard sighed.  "I'm trying to make an entire Warframe collapse into a carryable size.  Deployable Warframe."

"Why?"

"I'd like to go to a Relay without a Frame sometime.  But there's sometimes trouble at Relays, or sometimes I have to go on a mission directly from the Relay, and I don't want to have to come all the way back here to grab my Frame."

"Makes sense.  Sounds like a very interesting project."

"It's gonna be nice when it's finished."

"I'll bet.  Shall we?" They set off.

"I wonder who'll even notice it's me in Vauban."

"If I'm eating dinner with a Vauban, especially in our Dojo, people will notice."

"True."

"I think the black color scheme will be a tip-off, though.  You're the only one who uses it."

"Also true."

"I just hope Vahlin's not here for this.  I want rumors, not Vahlin."

"Vahlin will be with Tak, Artis, and Simon for dinner tonight on one of the Relays."

"I see.  Well then, let's be sure that he knows this happened when he gets back."

"Sounds like a plan."  They entered the dining hall, and paused their conversation.  After all, thought Richard, if they appear to be in a lively discussion, everyone will assume they're either discussing Ryoko's treatment (almost the entire Clan had heard that exchange, after all) or having another argument about something no one else would understand.

A few heads turned to see who had come in, returned to their tables, then immediately looked again, and then stared.  Richard and Katherine were going to eat together. And they weren't arguing or even having an animated discussion about anything.  That meant this had been premeditated; it hadn't just happened because both needed food while they happened to be talking. And if that weren't enough evidence, Katherine was wearing a clean robe instead of day-old scrubs.  The whispers made their way around the hall, and no one seemed to even be questioning the Vauban he was wearing. More likely than not they were more focused on the fact that he and Katherine were on what seemed like a date.  "So, think they've all noticed?" she asked.

"For sure.  Now all we need to do is act like we're having a good time."

"Which will be difficult," said Katherine slyly.

"Why's that?" Richard said, knowing what was coming but letting her say it anyway.

"Because we're mortal enemies, remember?" she said.

"Mortal frenemies, maybe," Richard said with a chortle, and she lost it.

"Hahahahahaha-snerk.  That's good."

"Mortal because we're the doctors, and friendemies-" he stopped, laughing too hard.

"Friendemies," she said, laughing harder.  "You done goofed that one, Richard."

"Yeah, I kinda did, didn't I?"

They kept talking until they were the only ones left in the mess hall.  "Well," said Richard, "They'll be talking about this for AGES." Both stood, and they started walking back to the infirmary.

"Indeed they will.  Should we do this again tomorrow?"

"How about Friday?  Too soon and they'll get suspicious."

"True."  Katherine opened the door, then turned back with a smirk.  "And Richard?"

"Yes?"

"Wear something ridiculously formal.  If we're gonna do this, let's blow the rumors sky-high."

"Let's make Vahlin's brain explode," said Richard with a smile.  He turned to leave, then had a thought. "You know the only problem with this?"

"What's that?"

"We have to avoid each other until Friday, or this is gonna crash and burn."

"Ryoko's here for treatment every day, so it will be hard for me to make time except in evenings anyway."

"True.  But after this gets to a certain point we're either gonna have to make things weirder to make Vahlin explode, or cut things off completely and just act like there's awkward sexual tension whenever we talk to each other."

"Which will ALSO make Vahlin explode."

"True.  But I think we can pull off both."

"Let's try it," she said with a smile.

"Until Friday, then."

\- -

The crowd in the mess hall was larger than there had been in a while for a Friday.  Most of the Clan was waiting to see if Richard and Katherine would show up again. Not ones to disappoint, they showed up fifteen minutes after dinner hours began.  Katherine was wearing the floofiest dress Richard had ever seen, and it was a shimmering jade green. Richard was wearing Oberon Immortal, all-black with silver accents on the inlays and tassel, and his black Izvara.  A collective gasp went through the assembled, and immediately the hushed conversations started. No, no one had ever seen Katherine wear anything like that. The last time Silas had seen Richard wearing something this formal was a day they'd both had to attend an Atonement Ceremony and a wedding on the same day.

They joked about their audience through dinner, making it look like small talk.  The occasional laughing shoulders or silent side-splitter kept the others guessing until a nervous Sarah came up to them.  "Um," she began...

"No," said Katherine, smiling as she shook her head, "this isn't what it looks like."

"What _does_ this look like?" asked Sarah.  "Because all _we_ see are you two, who supposedly hate each other's guts, having dinner in clothes that are so formal the Council doesn't even wear them for Reinstallment Ceremonies."

"Then why are you so nervous about asking us what this is?" asked Richard.  "Oh, come on, why else would you have come over here?" he asked when she stammered a denial.

"Richard, cut her some slack," said Katherine.  "She's probably worried we've stolen Vahlin's imagination away from her and Finn."

Sarah shook her head.  “No, that’s…” she trailed off and took a step back, looking back and forth between Richard, who had his head down on the table, shaking from silent mirth, and Katherine, who was looking at her with concern.  "Are you alright, Sarah?" she asked.

"I-I'm okay, yes.  Yes, okay. Okay." She hurried back to her table.

"Why'd you have to do that, Katherine?"

"Because I want to see the look on Ryoko's face when he's bombarded with questions by Vahlin about how much he knew about us tomorrow morning."

"You're far to good at this, Katherine."

"Don't tell me you're not curious about what Ryoko will say."

"Oh, _that'll_ be fun."

They again waited until everyone else had left to leave for the infirmary.

"You know, Richard," said Katherine as they were about to part ways, "we still haven't discussed what you meant by 'some problems can only be solved with the sword'."

"I was waiting for you to ask me about that."

"Why?"

"Because if you asked, then you're ready to listen."

"I would normally call you a presumptuous spat for saying that, but I think this time I'll simply concede that you're right."

"You've been spending too much time with me, Katherine.  It almost sounds like you're starting to like me."

"I've always respected you, Richard.  But until recently, I never realized how wise you are."

"And until now, I've never realized just how good you are at our job."

"We'll discuss this tomorrow, then?"

"Yes.  We need to decide when he'll be seeing whom, after all."

"You're assuming I approve of your method."

"Tomorrow, then."

 

**Shifting Sands - Chapter 4**

"So you're not saying my methods are useless?" she asked.

"If I were to say that, I'd be a dead fool."

"A dead _fool_?  I hardly think it foolish to speak your mind, whether I kill you for doing so or not."

"A fool because I would be incorrect in saying so.  Therapy is by far the best way to work past mental problems.  However, Ryoko's problem is not mental. At least, not entirely."

"How so?"

"He has spent his whole life believing that the sword is only a weapon.  He has begun to see himself the same way. And now _this_ happens, and all he can see is the blood on his hands.  Until he realizes that the sword is not just a weapon, that HE is not just a weapon, he will not be able to move past what has happened, whether it be what he has just done or what he did before he founded this Clan."

"That sounds entirely mental to me."

"Perception is _not_ mental.  It's shaped by your experiences, so unless he has physical experience and memories to contradict his current conclusion, his outlook will never change."

“So he needs to physically see the other side of the sword."

"Yes.  He needs to see himself for _who_ he is, not _what_ he is.  He needs to see both natures inside him: the father and the fighter.  Until he does, he won't be able to see life as anything other than battle after battle.  He needs to put relaxation and fun into his life, or he'll never move past his past."

"How do you plan to teach him?"

"Kata."

"Gesundheit."

"Non-combat sword forms.  They're used to clear the mind and allow passive meditation while focusing on the art of balance and swordsmanship."

"So by using the sword for something other than fighting, he'll be able to see himself as something other than a warrior."

"He IS a warrior.  But he is also more.  A sword IS a weapon. But it is also more.  He already knows that he's not just a weapon, but his brain won't accept that knowledge as the truth because all it knows how to do is fight."

"So you're going to teach him that the sword is more than a weapon, and let him make the connection?"

"Yes.  The extrapolation method allows them to make the connection themselves, and such a lesson is taken to heart far easier than anything I could explicitly teach.  Most students realize that what they figure out for themselves is what I was actually teaching them, but only after they make the connection themselves."

"Something you figure out for yourself stays with you longer because it feels better to do things yourself."

"Exactly."

"Get here before 0800 tomorrow morning and you'll get Ryoko for the day."

"Alright.  Good day, Katherine."

"Good day, Richard."

\- -

"Oh.  Good morning, Richard,” said Ryoko as he came in.

"I haven't been here all night, if that's what you're wondering."

"What?  No, I'm just surprised to see you."

"Walk with me, Arbiter."

"I take it Katherine has approved whatever method you were referring to?"

"Indeed.  Come." Ryoko walked with him, and Richard intentionally led him on a path towards the dueling room.

Ryoko paused outside the dueling room when they passed it.  "We're not going to the dueling room?"

"No," Richard replied.  "Fighting me will do you no good.  I'm going to teach you something new.  Something I think you have very little experience with."

They reached the garden, and Ryoko looked confused when Richard motioned for him to enter.

"Odd classroom."

"I think it's very 'zen'."

"What am I learning?"

"Take a sword."  Richard motioned toward the two katana that were on the ground in the center of the garden.

"I already know how to-" began Ryoko, but Richard cut him off.

"We are not fighting."  Ryoko started to ask what they were doing, but Richard held up his hand.  "I am teaching you to center yourself. To use the sword for calm, focused method."

"I've heard some of our Clanmates talking about this.  You've taught this lesson to some of them before, right?"

"I've taught the same things, but this is the first time there is a deeper lesson."

"So we're not fighting."

"No.  Now, watch me and do exactly as I do."  Richard began teaching him practice forms focused on balance and centering oneself.

Two hours passed, and Ryoko was still having trouble stopping himself from shifting to combat forms.  "This is difficult," he noted after Richard stopped him for the umpteenth time.

"You've never done this before, Ryoko.  I don't expect you to be perfect. Same time tomorrow?"

"You say that like I have a choice."

"You _do_.  We can do it at any point in the day you choose."

"Same time tomorrow."

"Alright.  Check in with Katherine this afternoon to work out a new schedule, since I've stolen her time slot."

"Okay.  Where do I put the sword?"

"Keep it for now.  You can return it to the Armory when we're finished."  Ryoko left, and Richard continued by himself. He hadn't spent time doing kata in a while, and it was a habit he needed to get back into, especially if he would be teaching this lesson.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have (hopefully polite) questions? Have (hopefully relevant) comments? Hell, have any (hopefully at least halfway to quasi-relevant) memes? Drop me a line at sarcasticmathematician @ gmail.com (email address broken to hopefully reduce the amount of crawler-generated flotsam that appears in my inbox) and I'll (maybe) reply in a reasonable* amount of time.
> 
> *the word "reasonable" is hereby defined as "whenever the hell I get around to it, schedule permitting" (what can I say, I'm a busy dude!)


	4. Mark of Markhor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ahh, yes. The hearing. This chapter contains what is perhaps the best line of dialogue I have written to date.
> 
> Ever have a moment when you're writing a story and all of a sudden one of your characters steps out of your screen and says "I'm going to write my own dialogue for minute, thank you very much."? Because that's what happened while I was writing this Arc. Richard's standard practice when being interviewed by an antagonistic party is to employ a tactic that my friends and I refer to as "going Loki" - a phrase derived from the roundabout, trickster nature of the Loki Warframe. However, one of the interviewers just so happens to be a complete bitch. Eventually, Richard got fed up with her and informed me of the snappy comeback he wished to make. See if you can guess which line I'm referring to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Markhor: Mark of Markhor  
> In which Richard succeeds in creating briefcase mode, Ryoko goes to Phenix, Project Sinkhole progresses, Richard smashes a Balor Fomorian into a large planetoid, Richard is interviewed by Tenno High Councillors Cas and Kiri about why he smashed a Balor Fomorian into a large planetoid, and I introduce the plot hooks for the Shattered Ghost subplot and Richard's relationship with Lydia.

**Mark of Markhor - Chapter 1**

"Now close your eyes, and do the whole set by feel."  Ryoko closed his eyes and began going through the forms Richard had showed him.  He made it the whole way through without slipping into combat forms. "Good," said Richard.  "Now do it again, and if something touches your sword, continue."

"What would touch my sword?"

"My sword.  But your eyes will still be closed this time."

"Oh-kay..."  Ryoko began the forms again, and Richard began the same forms after a short delay.  Their swords met three times during the cycle, and Ryoko looked questioningly at Richard when he finished.  "What was that teaching?"

Richard ignored the question.  "Again, this time with your eyes open.  Do not change the cycle. I will do what I just did last time, but now you'll see me.  When you finish, repeat from the beginning with no delay." They repeated the drill Ryoko had just done without watching, and something seemed to register in his face when Richard again started the same cycle after a short delay and their swords met and danced around each other in fluid motion.  They continued to repeat the cycles for the next half hour, slowly increasing speed, blades meeting every few seconds with a singing note of steel-on-steel. Eventually they were going lightning fast. 

"Kata are for balance and focus, but they are also for show," Richard told Ryoko.  "More complicated kata can seem like an actual sparring match when viewed from the outside, but in reality each move is planned and practiced."

"So the sword is an artist's tool when performing kata."

"It can be, yes.  In the way I use kata, the sword is merely an extension of my body, the way a knife and fork are when eating.  You use it to help you perform a task; in this case, clearing your mind to allow more focused meditation."

"My mind is much quieter than it usually is when I train."

"That's because you're not training.  You're performing. Kata are what are known as physical meditation.  The calming of your body that allows true calming of mind and spirit."  Richard stepped back, and they stopped performing.

"I see.  Also, Richard?"

"Yes?"

"I'm going to New Eden for a week with Darrin for Archon testing.  Silas isn't here right now, so I'm leaving you in charge until I get back."

"Understood.  I hereby assume temporary command of the Dojo.  While you're gone, there's something I want you to do.  For your treatment."

"Yes?"

"Do something a little outside your comfort zone: try to have a little fun."

\- -

It was 3 am when he got it.  At first he didn't believe it.  "That worked. There's no way that actually worked.  I can't have done it. I did it. Holy sh-" Poof. "Damn.  SO CLOSE. Wait, no, that was just me being stupid." He'd disconnected the power in the wrong order in his excitement.  Setting a new circuit, he tried again. It was stable after 10 compressions. Richard thumbed a button on his wristband. "Okay, full-suit Trial 1 is ready in two minutes.  What I have done here is..." He went through the procedure of altering the circuits out loud for the recording as he made the modifications to the Frost on the table.

"And we're all set.  Failure is not expected, but given that I have a Frost Prime, it will not be too devastating.  Test firing in 3, 2, 1..." The Frost Warframe snapped shut and folded itself into a briefcase-shaped package that could contain a pair of Akimbo Jagara.  "Macro Test 1 is a success. I will now begin modifying my other frames for practical in-mission testing." Richard was excited. The future of Tenno missions was here, but he was going to have to make sure it was safe before he told his Clan or the Council.

 

**Mark of Markhor - Chapter 2**

Modified Zephyr performed perfectly, as did Frost.  He was slowly getting the hang of transferring in midair.  After all, opening your Warframe, tossing another one in front of you, waiting for it to open, jumping or falling from one to the other, and catching the first one after it collapsed, all in a matter of seconds, was difficult enough while you were on the ground, even if there was no one shooting at you.  Feeling elated even though he still had a long way to go, Richard strode back into the Dojo, only to run straight into Fred. "Richard?" He asked. "Didn't you leave the Dojo wearing Frost?" Oh, crap. Richard had forgotten about that.

"Apparently not," he answered, gesturing to the Zephyr he was wearing.

"Huh," said Fred.  "Must have been someone else."

"Must have been," said Richard.  "See you later." He teleported back to his lab and immediately set to work.

The comms beeped not five minutes later.  "Richard," said Simon's voice. "There's a Corpus who says his name is 'Rho Cestra' wishing to speak with you.  It's Priority- this has to be a mistake, Richard, it's Priority Moa! They only use that for messages to command in a state of open war!"

Richard had intentionally not included an outgoing comm box in this room, so it couldn't be located.  Simon could talk to him, but couldn't find him on a map. If this was Priority Moa from the merchant, something that appalled even the Corpus' sense of morality must have happened.  Teleporting to the Grand Assembly, Richard hit the comm button on a pillar. "Put him through to my room, Simon. I'll be right there."

"Sure thing."  Richard reached his room just as Cestra's face came up on the screen.

"Tenno," he said, coughing, "we've got a very serious problem."

"What's wrong?  Where's that smoke coming from?"

"This is New Loka's main hospital.  Deri Spectra just showed up in orbit and bombed it to the ground."

"Why are you there?"

"I occasionally sell... hard-to-find medicines.  Loka pays well. I appear to have arrived at a bad time."

"Get yourself clear, Cestra.  Spectra's about have Holy Hell rained down on his head."

"He's gone now, Tenno."

"Loka got his ship's transponder signal.  It's time to end this charade."

"I quite agree.  Consider his head payment for this information."

"No money?"

"I still have my cargo.  The black market pays far more than Loka, and they no longer have any use for it."

"Corpus to the last.  Good fortune, Cestra."

"Good fortune, Tenno."

Spectra had just bombed a hospital.   _ Loka's _ hospital.  The probability was high that no one had died, but there were definitely wounded.  And if Spectra was anything like his dead partner Prova, there would be plenty of Grineer on the surface wreaking who knew how much havoc.  Richard strode to the black cabinet at the back of his room and turned the lock with his mind. Immediately the Comm channel switched frequencies, and Richard told it to raise Katherine.

"Richard?  What's going on?  This frequency is-"

"Loka's Main Hospital no longer exists," he told her flatly.

"Wh-what?" she sputtered.

"It was bombed to dust only seconds ago.  There are likely close to half a million Grineer still on the surface."

"Oh, like HELL there are!"

"I figured you should know, since I'm going there right now."

"You're not going alone."

"Katherine, you're not cleared for combat-"

"Richard, they just bombed a TEMPLE!  And if that wasn't enough, there are THOUSANDS of people at that hospital!  I'm going, so DEAL. WITH. IT." Oh, she was  _ pissed _ .  No stopping her now.

"They could always use your medical expertise," he conceded.  "I'll need you to carry my Galatine."

"Why?"

"I'm wearing Oberon, and I'm traveling heavy."

"Understood.  I'll meet you in the hangar in 70 seconds."

"Alright.  Richard out."  He thumbed the button for general comms.  "Now hear this, Miraalan. Richard speaking on the move."  He ran out the door and continued speaking from a portable comm that floated next to him.  "I am returning command to Silas until the Arbiters return. I am leaving the Dojo immediately, and I do not expect to return until I have burned an entire planet to the ground.  Katherine will be coming with me. You are NOT to leave the Dojo to follow me, no matter what you hear. Ryoko and Darrin should be back in less than three hours. They will decide which actions to take, if any.  I repeat, you are NOT TO LEAVE THIS DOJO. Richard out." He knew this announcement would cause havoc, but he also knew that no one would follow him now.

If he'd only told them to stay put once, they would probably have followed him. The announcement that Katherine was going with him would convey the seriousness of the situation to Silas, who was no doubt already furiously searching the universal comm channels for information on what was going on, but Richard didn't have time to explain.

\- -

They got to Orcus Relay to find it more crowded than Richard had ever seen it, which meant there were about 80 Tenno in the main hall instead of the usual 7 or 8.  Baro Ki’Teer must have been there. Richard spotted Darrin, Tak and Vahlin across the way and turned to avoid them, hurrying toward the solar rail.

Switching on his Clan comms, he heard Vahlin's surprised voice.  "Where's Richard going? Didn't Ryoko leave him in charge?"

"More importantly," said Tak's voice, "Where's he going with that  _ Trinity _ ?"

" _ What?! _ " said Darrin in surprise.  Richard could almost see the Arbiter’s eyes bulging from shock.

"Richard's the Oberon," said Tak, "and I'm sensing Katherine in that Trinity, but that's not possible: she's carrying Richard's Galatine."

"Yes," said Darrin, a note of anxiety creeping into his voice, "it  _ is _ possible, and we need to go, NOW."  That last word was so emphatic that some of the Tenno close to Darrin turned to look at him.  Darrin dropped his helmet. "Whatever this is, it's BAD."

"What's-" Tak started to say, but Vahlin cut him off.

"RUN.  Don't talk.  Don't think. Just RUN!"  He immediately took off at a full sprint for the liset docking area, Tak and Darrin close on his heels.  Some of the closer Tenno looked around in confusion, and finally a Nova Prime broke the silence.

" _ Screw _ THIS, I'm  _ out _ !"  She took off after them, and most of the other Tenno followed her.

"Richard, we just cleared a relay," said Katherine as they ran.  "How did we do that?"

"Tak sensed you and Vahlin freaked out."

"I got that, but why'd the rest of them leave?"

"Because Darrin saw me in my black-box Oberon, and as if that wasn't enough to make him agree with Vahlin that it was time to go, he saw you, in a Warframe, outside the Dojo, following me, carrying the biggest sword we own.  He probably ran faster than Vahlin."

"Ember's faster than Frost, though."

"Everyone's faster when they're terrified.  As for the rest of them, they just saw Darrin, a Tenno renowned for his level head and ‘never, ever bail, ever, no matter what, ever’ attitude, in a full sprint for the exits.  I'm surprised ANYONE's still here."

"I didn't know people had so much respect for our Clan."

"Some of it's genuine respect, but I think more often than not they're just scared of the army we could raise if needed."

"I never thought about that."

"Yeah, well.  Whatever went down at Loka, it's about to get worse."

"How do you know?"

" _ I'm _ about to get there."

 

**Mark of Markhor - Chapter 3**

Katherine EVed something before he hit the ground, and he stood up with a Sancti Tigris in each hand.  The first 45 Grineer to die didn't even hear the blast that killed them.

After that it was madness.  Richard, with Katherine right behind him, stormed across the desert towards what had once been the hospital.  The once proud, five-story structure was nothing but rubble. "Katherine, go!" he told her. "Find the wounded."

"You better make it back to me," she said, throwing him his sword and taking off.  Holstering his Tigrises, all ammo spent, Richard caught the sword mid-Reckoning and continued irradiating the Grineer.

He was nearly out of energy when Ordis spoke on his comm.  "Operator, there are only twenty Grineer life-signs remaining on this planet, and they are surrounded by armed New Loka operatives."

He immediately relaxed.  "Thanks, Ordis. What about casualties on our side?"

"There are no fatalities.  I must say, Operator, the sheer amount of Trinity Warframes on this planet is staggering.  I calculate that it is mathematically impossible for anyone here to become critically injured."

"Okay.  Let's go find Katherine."

\- -

There were nearly four hundred thousand wounded in the final count, but Ordis was right.  No one was dead or even severely injured. Most of the wounds were ones that had been sustained before the bombing, and the new ones were mostly broken bones or strained muscles.

Silas' voice filtered over the comms.  "Richard? Katherine? Is everyone alright?"

"We're all good here, Silas," Richard told him.  "Just a lot of wounded down here. I may have to Trineron for a bit.  Who else is with you?"

"It's just me and Vahlin.  Ryoko's concerned that something worthy of all-out war happened here.  Speaking of which, what  _ did _ happen here?"

"Deri Spectra has just declared war on New Loka, and I'm going to wipe him out."

"By yourself?"

"If I must.  But something tells me there are a few thousand Trinities who'll be coming with me."

"Not just them.  If this guy got Katherine pissed off enough to actually leave the Dojo again, and go into a  _ war zone _ no less, you'll have the whole Clan behind you.  Most of us were ready to gear up with no idea what we'd find out here."

"There's no need to trouble the Clan with this," Richard said.  "I'm going to find that Fomorian, and I'm going to smash it into whatever planet Spectra lives on."

"You... you really weren't kidding when you said you were going to burn a whole planet, were you?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding?" roared Richard, his Oberon lighting up with white-hot energy.  "Does this Oberon  _ look _ like he's kidding?"

"Okay, calm down.  I'll help get these people out of here.  If that guy really blew up a hospital full of innocent people, then he deserves whatever you're about to do to him.  But Richard?"

"Yes?"

"No inhabited planets."

"What if it's just Grineer or Corpus?"

Silas thought about this for a moment.  "No Corpus," he decided. "Grineer crashing into Grineer will get a few raised eyebrows and a laugh.  Grineer crashing into Corpus? We'll have to choose sides in a full-scale war."

"Tell Ryoko not to worry.  'I just went to get justice for everyone in New Loka's main hospital.'  Those words."

"You got it, man."

\- -

"Operator, message for you.  It's Cestra."

"Put him through."  The Corpus merchant's face appeared in front of him.  "Cestra."

"Tenno.  I've found Spectra's command center.  It's on a small asteroid designated Ern 401."

"You're sure?"

"The ship carrying him from Saturn delivered one Deri Spectra to that asteroid not four hours ago, and no ship has docked or departed since."

"Excellent.  I'll be sure to send him your regards.  You'll find the funds in your account within the hour."

"Much appreciated, Tenno."

\- -

Finding the ship wasn't difficult once they got the transponder code.  After a couple of excursions to glean information and set nav coordinates, Ordis found a note in Grineer records.  "Operator, this ship does not belong to the Grineer. It was stolen by a group of Corpus privateers believed to be working for the Perrin Sequence."

"If that's true, why were there Grineer on it?"

"It could be a mistake."

"If it were anyone but the Grineer, I would say it's the government disavowing a group of spies before they send them to wreak havoc."

"Perhaps the Grineer have learned something from the Corpus after all."

"Whatever the reason, that ship is about to find itself permanently embedded into an asteroid."

"I quite agree.  We're approaching the asteroid now."

"Is he still there?"

"No ships have arrived or departed since we received communication from Cestra."

"Is the detonator still attached to their core?"

"Yes."

"Time to blow them sky-high."  Richard opened a global channel.  "Deri Spectra, for crimes committed against New Loka and the Tenno, I hereby sentence you to death by burning Fomorian."  He pressed the button to trigger the detonator, and immediately the ship lurched, wracked by explosions. It tilted sideways, then the gravity of the asteroid caught it and it was all over.  There was nothing left but a few pieces of burning rock. "Ordis, did you capture a picture of the impact?"

"Yes, Operator.  Do you wish to distribute it?"

"Yes.  Caption it with 'You burned my hospital.  I burned your planet.' and send it to every non-Tenno installation in the system.  Grineer, Corpus, Syndicate, all of them."

"What about New Loka?"

"Send it to them too.  They'll be glad to know the perpetrator has met his end."

"Message delivered."

"Let's go home, Ordis.  I have to get back to Ryoko's lessons."

 

**Mark of Markhor - Chapter 4**

"So," asked Ryoko during their lesson, "what exactly happened while I was gone?"

"A Corpus renegade named Deri Spectra used a Fomorian to level the largest hospital in the Origin System.  Other than that, things were pretty quiet."

"I saw the picture you took of the Fomorian crashing into the asteroid.  Rather a large explosion."

"How'd you get that?"

"You really thought sending it to all non-Tenno would mean the Syndicates wouldn't show it to the Council or put it on a Relay screen?"

"I guess you're right."

"The explosion was rather impressive."

"There were probably a few bombs left on board when I burned it," Richard said with a casual shrug.

"Probably," agreed Ryoko.  "I took your advice, by the way."

"Did you?  Good for you."

"Yes.  I went to a dance."

"Did you have a good time?"

"It was...  _ interesting _ ...." his voice trailed off.

"I see."

"Blast," said Ryoko as he caught himself doing a combat form.  "I almost had that one."

"You're getting better at this."

"I've had a good teacher."

"You flatter me, Arbiter.  Now, how fast can you mirror me?"

"Let's find out," said Ryoko, matching Richard's position.

"Set," Richard told him, then launched straight into a full-speed set of kata meant for professional demonstration.  To his surprise, Ryoko kept pace with him. He stopped abruptly, and Ryoko kept going, adding his own forms. After a minute or so, Ryoko realized that he wasn't copying Richard anymore.

"How am I doing this?" he asked, confused.

"The forms have become natural to you.  You're beginning to create your own patterns.  You're using the sword for art because you see the artistry in it."

Ryoko stopped and looked at the sword.  "Funny," he said, "I've never thought of this as anything but a weapon.  It's hard to see it as anything else."

"Many things in life are like that."

"Perhaps."

"You have a very pensive look on your face.  I can't believe that it came from the sword."

"One cannot fight all the time."

"Neither can one fight  _ none _ of the time."

"Life must be a balance," said Ryoko, looking at the sword as if for the first time.  "Just as the sword can be two things, so must we all have lives outside of the fighting."

"The sword was made to be a weapon."

"So was I, if we look at the history of the Tenno."

"So what does that mean?"

"I'm not the weapon.  The weapon is a part of me, but it is not all of me.  I am something greater."

Richard smiled.  "These sessions are finished.  I teach kata with other weapons on Sunday afternoons, if you'd like to join us."

"I think I may."

"Katherine will be pleased to hear your conclusion from today.  Be sure to let her know."

"Thank you, Richard.  Would you return this to the armory for me?" he asked, handing Richard the katana.  "I have to speak with Mira."

"Of course.  And Ryoko," he added as the Arbiter was leaving.

"Yes?"

"Remember that all things are a balance between solo and group activities, be they combat or otherwise."  Ryoko nodded and left.

"I should take care to remember that myself," Richard reminded himself, "or things could get out of hand."

 

**Mark of Markhor - Chapter 5**

Richard turned at the sound of his name.  It was Mira. "Do you have a minute?" she asked.

"What can I do for you, Mira?"

"I was wondering if you could show me some kata for the nikana.  So I could do them with Ryoko sometime," she added when he raised an eyebrow at her.

"Of course.  How much time do you have?"

"I don't have anything to do today or tomorrow."

"Alright.  Let's get started."

"Don't you have a mission to do?"  She gestured to the Vauban he was wearing.

"What, this?  I'm Trinity, remember?"

"I thought maybe you were branching out a bit."

Richard smiled.  "I'm useless with Vauban.  Give me an Ash Prime any day.  He's the tekkie, and I'm doing some technical projects," he explained when she looked confused.

"Oh, okay.  Do I need my own nikana?"

"The armory has plenty."

They worked for about two hours, and Richard declared her proficient enough to begin practice with Ryoko.  "He's much better with this sword than I, and he's begun setting his own forms."

"Thanks, Richard."

"My pleasure.  Food?"

"Pardon?"

"It's lunchtime.  Care to join me?"

"Oh.  Sure."  They walked to the mess hall.

\- -

"Richard!"  It was Simon, and he sounded pretty excited.  "They found Trinity Prime."

"They did WHAT now?" said Richard, standing abruptly.  "Where?"

"Someone just came out of a Derelict with a Trinity Prime blueprint.  We've got no idea where her component blueprints are, though."

"Hmm.  Well, I'm sorry, Mira, but it would seem there's something I need to go find."

"Katherine cleared me for missions again this morning," she said.  "Mind if I come with you?"

"Please.  I'd be glad for the help."  Looking around the mess hall, he spotted Frederick and Anthony.  "Fred! Anthony! You're with me!"

The two picked up their pace and caught up with Richard and Mira as they left the mess hall.  "What's up?" asked Anthony.

"Trinity Prime," replied Richard.  "Gear up. We're going to find her."

"What?" asked Fred.  "When did they find her?"

"According to Simon, the first blueprint came off a Derelict not five minutes ago."

"Sweet.  Meet you in the hangar in 90 seconds."  Anthony and Fred teleported to their rooms, and Richard turned to Mira.

"I've got to grab my frames, so you can go on ahead."

"Okay."  She bounced off, then stopped abruptly.  "Wait. Frames?  _ Plural _ ?"  Richard had already teleported.

\- -

"Alright, let's get this party started!"  Anthony plugged a datamass into the console.  "If there's any information in here, we should have it inside of twenty minutes."

"Okay.  Keep in mind that I'm wearing Zephyr at the moment, alright?  No being cavalier."

"Why you're suddenly abandoning the 'all the Trin, all the time' thing is still confusing me," admitted Fred.  "But you sound like you've got a plan, so we're gonna pretend everything's cool."

"Oh, trust me.  I've got one hella plan."

Mira’s Equinox flashed and switched to night mode.  "Well, then I guess I'll cover medic while you're getting your plan set, Richard."

"Sounds good," said Richard with a smile; not that she could see his face, of course.

"You're awfully cheerful for a no-Trinity day," remarked Anthony.

"Anthony, I'm here to get a  _ better _ Trinity.  Besides, I've got the biggest range out of all of us right now."

"How?  You're Zeph-oh.   _ Yeah _ , that.  Cheater."  Richard had summoned tornadoes.

For about ten minutes it was business as usual.  Then the lights flickered and a low laugh echoed down the halls.  "Uh, guys?" said Anthony. "This could get bad."

"How do you mean?" asked Mira as Fred sent another wave of enemies flying backward with his Rhino Prime.

"Loka's after me, and I just heard Vor laugh."

"Well," said Richard, "I was hoping for a more dramatic time to do this, but I guess I'd better return to my duties as medic.  You can go day mode, Mira. I've got this."

"How have you ‘got this’ when you don't even have a-WHAT THE HECK IS THAT," Anthony cut himself off as Richard tossed a compacted Trinity down from a pillar and launched Zephyr down after her.

"A little surprise I thought you might enjoy," Richard replied as he made the jump from Zephyr to Trinity.  Landing in a crouch, he caught the briefcase-sized Zephyr and affixed it to his back under his syandana, where Trinity had been on Zephyr.  "Now it's time to give Vor a little present."

"What about Loka?"

"They've just sent us reinforcements."

"They've just sent a  _ death squad _ after me!"

"Yeah, like  _ that _ was gonna work with  _ me _ here."  Richard reloaded his Sancti Tigris and spoke into the Syndicate comm channel.  "Y'all are here to help, right? After all, I  _ did  _ just get some pretty epic revenge for you guys."  The Ancients filed into the room and formed ranks behind Richard, completely ignoring Anthony.  "Now for Vor," Richard repeated.

"You have an Ancient army," said Fred in awe.  "I want an Ancient army."

Richard raised his hand and stunned Vor just as he appeared in front of them with Well of Life.  "We don't need them. But they're of more use when we don’t have to kill them." He EVed the Captain just as Well of Life wore off, and Vor's body snapped like an overstretched rubber band.  "Moving on."

\- -

They got the blueprint for Trinity Prime, and a few other data files that looked like they were part of a larger whole.  "Almost looks like a partial blueprint," said Simon as he looked through them, "but I'm seeing features from multiple Warframes on this."

"How's that possible?" asked Fred.

"No idea.  If you find any more, let me know.  This may be something new. I need more pieces of the file to know for sure."

"If we find anything else, you'll be the first to know."

\- -

It took him four tries, but he finally got a Trinity Prime helmet.  "Thanks for the help, guys," he told the three other Tenno he'd joined for the fourth run.  "And don't mention the Link Augment," he told the other Trinity. "I'll just pick up another one."

"See you around, Asteroid Smasher," said the Ember with a smile.

_ Uh oh _ , thought Richard.  That was one epithet he would not answer to.

 

**Mark of Markhor - Chapter 6**

Honestly, the only thing that surprised Richard was the fact that it took so long for the inevitable Council hearing to be convened.

"Mostly a formality, or is this actually bad?" Richard asked Darrin at breakfast.

"This is so much a formality I doubt they'll send anyone from the actual Council."

"Cool."

"Frost pun bad."

"What?  No, I'm serious."

"Sure.  Say, I think your new frame's done building by now."

Richard decided to check.

\- -

"Greetings, Councillors.  Allow me to show you to the designated room."

"Thank you," said the female Councillor.  Richard led them to a small but comfortable meeting room, with four chairs on one side of the table and one on the other.  "I was told you only knew of two visitors," she said when she entered.

"Both Arbiters of Miraalan are Councillors as well," Richard reminded her.  "In case they wished to be present, we placed chairs for them. It would seem we require one more."

"Lydia will stand," said the female Councillor.

"The  _ hell _ she will," said the male Councillor.  "Regulations state that all Tenno present at a formal hearing have the option to sit if they wish.  It is not your place to tell her whether she must stand, Kiri.”

"Kazimierz," said his colleague with a sigh, "why must you contradict everything I say?"

"I do not contradict EVERYTHING you say,  _ Kirian _ , merely your mistakes.  Given that you have a propensity to make them, I am forced to correct you just as often."

"You don't have to nitpick everything I say!"

"Regulation 76-1 Section 42.  Any and all statements, judgements, or actions taken that contradict the Council Charter must be pointed out the moment they are noticed."

"You're seriously going to stand there and tell me-"

"You'll forgive me for interrupting, but I believe he is only doing his job, Councillor Kiri," said Richard, who had had enough of listening to the bickering.  "You appear to have the entire code memorized from back to front, Councillor Kazimierz."

"Indeed I do, lad.  And please, call me Cas."

"Thank you.  Before the session begins, can I get you anything?"

"Do you have any coffee?  I'm something of an addict, I'm afraid," said Kiri.

"How do you take it?"

"Black, two sugars.  And thank you."

"It's our pleasure.  Anything for you two?"

"Water with ice, if you would," replied Cas.

"And you, Lydia?"

"Water's fine, thank you."

"Of course.  I will be right back."  Richard crossed the hall to the kitchenette and poured a cup of coffee.  He hesitated on the sugar cubes. Should he use the blue sugars? If Kiri was as much of a tool as she already appeared to be, putting them in may end up preventing an incident, but if someone noticed, he'd be in real trouble whether he used them or not.  Deciding not to, he brought the drinks back and set a glass of cider in front of his chair and his Trinity Prime briefcase on the seat.

"Thank you," said Kiri.  "If you would please tell Richard that we are ready for him."

Richard pantomimed pulling out a phone and dialing, then answered another phone in his other hand.  "Hello, Richard? Yes, hello. The Councillors are ready for you now. Okay, I'll be right there." Dropping the charade, he pulled the chair out and sat.

His little act earned a 'snerk' from Lydia and a wry grin from Cas, but Kiri was not impressed.  "You think this is funny?" she asked.

"The fact that you showed up to a hearing without even bothering to learn what I look like?  Yes, I find that rather amusing. Now, I'm assuming you'll want to start with my name, as you've not bothered to learn that either."

"Your full name, position, Rank in your Clan, and Syndicate rank, please, for the record," said Cas.

"Richard Alistair Kirsteinberitch Erich von Tenno.  Medic. Harbinger of Miraalan, Flawless from Loka."

"And the frames you are proficient with?" asked Kiri.

"That question is not relevant," said Richard, who had already had enough of her belligerent attitude.

"You will answer my questions," said Kiri, "or I will rule summarily."

"You cannot rule summarily in a hearing for which there is no ruling to be made," Richard said, calling her bluff, "nor can you rule in any case in a hearing over which you are not presiding.  Now if you'll excuse me, I believe I was speaking to Cas."

"You  _ insolent _ little-" Kiri stopped abruptly when she heard Cas laughing.

"Kiri, you will do well to remember that you are here only because I did not pull rank to keep you away,” said Cas.  “I reserve the right to do so at any time."

"You should listen to him," said Richard brightly, a snide grin forming.  "He's in charge, after all."

"I believe it is fairly obvious why we're here, but for the sake of the record we will officially inform you of the purpose," continued Cas.  "Three weeks ago, New Loka's main hospital was bombarded by a Fomorian and reduced to rubble. A week later, that same Fomorian collided with an asteroid.  An image of the impact was taken and distributed to everyone in the system, with the caption ‘You burned my hospital. I burned your planet.’ attached. These are the objective facts that are common knowledge.  Would you agree that this account is accurate?"

"I would," said Richard.

"The purpose of this hearing is to determine whether or not you broke any standards of proper conduct during these events."

"I understand."

"How did you first hear of the incident?" asked Kiri.

"I received a communication from a Corpus merchant I have had dealings with from the scene while the bombardment was still occurring."

"What was your response to learning of the incident?"

"I believe the most accurate description would be ‘righteous anger, and rather a lot of it’,” said Richard.

"You are a member of New Loka.  The destruction of their main hospital would no doubt raise such feelings."

Richard did not move.  Kiri looked at him questioningly.  Richard met her gaze without moving.

"Well?" she asked pointedly.

"'Well'  _ what _ ?" Richard said in a harsh voice.

"You will  _ watch your tone _ with me, Tenno."

Richard turned to Cas.  "I was informed of the incident by communication from the site itself.  Your next question will probably be to ask me what I did next, would it not?"

"Indeed it would.  What  _ did _ you-"

"Now wait  _ just _ a minute," said Kiri.  "He hasn't answered my question yet."

"I have answered every question posed to me," said Richard.  Kiri had clearly expected him to respond to her statement, but this wasn’t a friendly chat.  "Would you mind repeating that, Cas? You got cut off."

"What did you do upon learning of the incident?"  Cas asked again.

"I called Katherine on the emergency comm frequency and told her that the hospital had been leveled."

"And what did she say?"

"She was surprised, as you can imagine.  Then she told me to meet her in the hangar."

"Who is this 'Katherine'?" asked Kiri.

"Katherine is our Clan's healer.  This excursion is the only time she has ever left the Dojo in a combat-ready frame since I joined the Clan."

"She never goes into combat?"

“That is correct."

"Then who keeps everyone alive in battle?"

"That's  _ my _ job."

"I see.  And you just  _ let _ her come with you?"

"You don't try to stop Katherine.  Besides, she was right. There was a need for her medical expertise."

"So you simply allowed a non-combatant to go with you into a war zone?"

"Ignoring the fact that she’s a non-combatant by personal choice, I told her I didn't want her coming with me.  She talked me into it."

"How?"

"The same way she  _ always _ gets people to take her side.  She just didn't take 'no' for an answer."

"What exactly did she say?"

"I have been making an effort to remove profanity from my language.  If you wish to hear our exchange, you should talk to Simon. He's in charge of communications."

"What happened when you arrived?" asked Cas.

"There were Grineer everywhere, but the Fomorian had already left.  Katherine and I helped clear out the Grineer and began tending to the wounded."

"New Loka informed us that there were at least half a million Grineer on the planet.  How did you get rid of them?"

"Righteous anger amplifies Oberon's power, right?" asked Lydia suddenly.  "I mean, they'd just destroyed the entire hospital and the temple with it.  I'd guess you had enough anger to cover the entire planet in a matter of minutes with Oberon's Reckoning."

"Lydia, don't interrupt us!" said Kiri.

"Her question was more insightful than any of  _ yours _ have been," said Richard.  "And as it happens, she's right."

"Right or not, she has no place asking questions!"

"She's sitting at this table, isn't she?" asked Cas.  "She has as much right as you do."

"May I ask a question of my own, Councillor?" a curious Richard asked.

"You most certainly may NOT-"

"Kiri.  Continue like this and I will remove you from the room," Cas scolded.  "You are also seated at this table, Richard."

Richard nodded to Cas.  "Lydia, how did you know that about Oberon?"

"When Kiri told me I was coming with her I decided to read up on Oberon, since that's the Frame you were wearing when all this happened."

"That's rather resourceful of you," Richard said kindly.  "I'm surprised they haven't promoted you by now."

"That's  _ quite _ enough of that," said Kiri.  "Assuming you  _ did _ clear all the Grineer by yourself, how did you find the Fomorian?"

"I never said I cleared them singlehandedly.  Katherine and a few thousand other Trinities were there, and many New Loka personnel were unhurt by the attack due to the aforementioned Trinities.  I was not alone in eradicating them. As for the Fomorian, the defense network scanned the transponder. All I had to do was follow it."

"Loka does not possess technology of that caliber," said Cas thoughtfully.

"Is that what they told you?" Richard asked, smiling.  "Make no mistake, Councillor, we are quite well-equipped.  Ask any Tenno, they'll tell you Loka's death squads are the most terrifying to face.  No energy against durable enemies who heal one another?" he added when Kiri opened her mouth.  "Not easy." Kiri closed her mouth.

"What did you do when you found the Fomorian?"

"I set it on course for the asteroid that served as a base for the mastermind of the attack and sabotaged its core in close proximity to the asteroid."

"How did you know which asteroid to target?"

"That was the Corpus merchant again."

"This Corpus merchant.  What is his name?"

"Rho Cestra.  Though you may know him better by the name Ico Etina."

Kiri gasped.  "You admit to aiding and abetting a known criminal?  That is in violation of Regulation 372-"

"No, it isn't,” interrupted Cas curtly.  “Ico Etina is not currently wanted on any charge by the Tenno.  He's a Corpus, Kiri. He plays to the highest bidder. If that bidder happened to be Richard, then good on Richard for amassing enough credits."

"Who was this mastermind?" asked Kiri, unfazed.

"His name was Deri Spectra."

"A Corpus commanding a Grineer Fomorian?" she scoffed.  "You actually expect us to believe anything you-"

"Okay, you know what?" asked Richard, standing.  "If the only reason you came here was to second-guess everything I say and to be generally obnoxious, I suggest you leave.  Any more of this nonsense and I will cease attempting to restrain myself."

"Corporeal remarks are forbidden during these proceedings.  If you wish to challenge Kiri to a duel, however..." Cas motioned for Richard to sit.

Richard sat.  "I would not. Such a duel would be embarrassing for her."

"If it makes any difference," said Lydia, "I for one would classify Kiri's attitude as bellicose and be willing to testify that Richard was provoked to take any action not forbidden him by the code, especially in this special circumstance of personal harassment and unnecessary questioning."

Richard looked questioningly at Cas, but before either could say anything, Kiri stood and turned on Lydia, her Nova Prime alight with energy.  Before she could say or do anything further, Richard stood to his full height, his briefcase expanding to surround him. "I would think  _ long _ and  _ hard _ about your next move, 'Councillor',” he said slowly to Kiri, who had turned to look at him in surprise at the sound of his helmet clicking into place.  “You do  _ not _ want to face me in this frame."

"Is that a Trinity Prime?" asked Lydia excitedly, ignoring Kiri.  "She's so beautiful!"

"Yes, she is, isn't she?" said Cas agreeably.

A long silence passed.  Finally, Kiri backed down.  The energy dissipated, and she sat.  Richard allowed his helmet to fall and sat slowly, looking at Lydia.  “Yes, this is Trinity Prime. She’s quite a bit different from the standard Trinity, I must say.  She took some getting used to.”

"I would imagine so," said Cas.  "And as a matter of fact, Lydia is right again.  If provoked, you would be justified in attacks that cause minor injury or disablement.  However, I have seen nothing to provoke you."

Richard declined to comment on that statement.  Instead, he looked at Kiri. "Your next question?"

For a moment she sat, collecting her thoughts.  Then, noticing her untouched coffee mug, she drained it.  "If you knew where this Deri Spectra was, why didn't you capture him for interrogation?"

"I doubt I was thinking that far ahead at the time," said Richard flatly.

"You  _ mock _ me?"

"If answering a question honestly is interpreted as mocking you, how do you expect me to answer any more of your questions?"

"Continue to bait me and you will find you've hooked a much bigger fish than you were looking for."

"I’ve brought a  _ very _ expensive fishing pole."

" **You** _insolent_ , good-for- _nothing_ , son-of-a-" she said in a loud voice, standing and leaning over the table.

"You will  _ be SILENT _ !" Richard roared, leaping to his feet, slamming his hands onto the table, and raising his helmet again.

Kiri's Nova bristled with energy, her mouth forming more angry words, but no sound came out.  Puzzled, she pulled back from the table, touched her hand to her throat, tried again. Nothing.  She looked at Richard in terror. Her mouth formed the words 'What have you-'

"A Manifest," whispered Cas.

"What?" asked Lydia.

" _ I _ did that?" asked Richard, dropping his helmet and taking a step back.

"You must have.  Unless you spiked her drink."

"I thought about it," admitted Richard.

Cas smirked.  "Your sense of humor has returned, I see."

"That wasn’t- If I'm starting to Manifest..." Richard trailed off.

"I thought a Trinity Manifest would only be  _ good _ things," said Lydia curiously to Cas.  "Like fixing a broken arm without a Frame or something."

"Eventually, that may happen," said Cas, "but think about it.  It would be very easy for him to accidentally cause cancer with a Manifest.  Or worse."

"I never thought about that," said Lydia thoughtfully.

"Ryoko's going to be worried when we tell him I've started," said Richard.  "I spend nearly as much time in Zephyr as I do in Trinity these days. An accidental tornado in the mess hall wouldn’t be fun."

"That's not how it works," said Cas.  "If you just Manifested as Trinity, they'll  _ all _ be as Trinity.  Whichever frame you've spent the most time in."

Kiri's voice had apparently come back.  "You have made a direct attack on my person.  You have broken Regulations 217, 463, 586-"

"Actually," said Cas, "he didn't."

"Whose side are you  _ on _ ?" yelled Kiri.

"I take no sides.  I follow the Code."

"To  _ blazes _ with the Code, tha-"

"The Code is the only thing keeping me from explaining your mistakes to you with a  _ Fragor _ , lass.  I wouldn't be so hasty to disregard it."

"This waste of potential attacked me!  I'll see him exiled for th-"

Now it was Cas's turn to stand, his Loki Prime ablaze with energy.  "Kiri, you are out of line! Leave this room immediately."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"You've got three Tenno who say you are," said Darrin as he entered the room.  "This interview is over."

"Four, actually," said Lydia, who was now also standing.  "Kiri?  _ Ughh _ , you have  **_no_ ** _ idea _ how long I've been wanting to say this:  **_I quit_ ** ."

"We have more questions-"

" _ You _ will not be asking  _ anyone _ any more questions," said a furious Cas, an unmistakable note of contempt in his voice.  "As it stands, you will be lucky if all I do is strip you of your seat on the Council."

"But what about-"

"He just disrupted your nervous system because you YELLED at him," said Darrin evenly.  "How much more do you think it would take for him to stop your heart?"

"If that happened, you could revive me and arrest him," said Kiri cooly.

"There are a thousand ways he could accidentally kill you," Darrin went on.  "All it would take is a lump of cells inside the throat, a pinch of nerves in the neck, or a pause in your heart.  And actually, I'm not  _ allowed _ to revive you.  That has to be done by a healer.  And given that it would have been Richard who killed you, I doubt Katherine would have done anything.  They may not agree on much, but they tend to have the same opinion about who gets to live."

"And as it happens," said Cas, "it will be  _ you _ who is under arrest.  You provoked a healer to cause physical harm, though that harm was not rendered intentionally.  You sabotaged this hearing before we reached the part of the story that would determine the answers to the questions we were sent here to answer.  You verbally abused both the subject and your own scribe, and you physically threatened another Tenno. You are in violation of so many regulations I cannot begin to list them.  And if you  _ dare _ ," he said in a rising voice when Kiri opened her mouth, his hand millimeters from her face, "to say  _ another word _ , you will wish this Tenno  _ had _ killed you with that Manifest."  He turned to leave.

"Cas," said Darrin, "if you would like to leave a list of questions, we can have Richard's answers delivered to you."

"No, that's alright, Darrin.  This whole thing was a bloody waste of time if you ask me.  There is absolutely no evidence that he did anything wrong, and he's been nothing but helpful during this interview.  I don't think we need to actually finish this."

"Doesn't the Code dictate that you must have proof one way or the other?" asked Richard curiously.

"The Code merely states that if we wish to charge you with anything or take any formal action against you, we need proof that you have committed some wrongdoing.  Otherwise we can simply ignore things. Good day, you three." He left the room and headed toward the hangar.

"I'll see this one out," said Lydia, slapping a pair of cuffs onto Kiri's wrists.  "It was nice to meet you, Richard."

"The pleasure was all Kiri's, I'm sure," said Richard with a smirk.

"Richard, I hope you know I had to step in when I did," said Darrin when once the door had closed.  "Another few minutes of that and you really may have killed her."

"It wouldn't have been a Manifest that stopped her heart," said Richard, fingering his shotgun.

" _ That _ would have been a mess to deal with," said Darrin.

"What do you mean?" asked Richard.  "I would have shot a Councillor in cold blood during an interview.  It would have been an open-and-shut case."

"I meant the mess her brain would have made on the wall," said Darrin.

"Oh.  Yeah, that would have been a bit slimy."

"You should speak with Tak," Darrin continued.  "He's got the most power outside of his frame of any of us."

"True.  See you tomorrow, Darrin."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have (hopefully polite) questions? Have (hopefully relevant) comments? Hell, have any (hopefully at least halfway to quasi-relevant) memes? Drop me a line at sarcasticmathematician @ gmail.com (email address broken to hopefully reduce the amount of crawler-generated flotsam that appears in my inbox) and I'll (maybe) reply in a reasonable* amount of time.
> 
> *the word "reasonable" is hereby defined as "whenever the hell I get around to it, schedule permitting" (what can I say, I'm a busy dude!)


	5. Shadows of the Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here we see a foreshadowing of the eventual flashback where we find out exactly why Richard acts the way he does in this chapter. Things will get better for him, but we need to flesh things out a bit first - and to do that, we'll be changing the setting next Arc for something more suited to character development, as well as providing a bit of much-needed world-building.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Markhor: Shadows of the Fire  
> In which Richard and Lydia go on an explosive adventure of capital proportions, Project Sinkhole comes to a head, and an apology doesn't make things right.

**Shadows of the Fire - Chapter 1**

It had been a week since the hearing, and Richard hadn’t had another Manifest.  He hadn't really been expecting one, but Darrin and Ryoko seemed to be. Tak had talked to him for a few minutes about mental focus and control, and reminded him to stop by if he started displaying more powers.

He'd been sitting on top of this pillar for a while, and the Grineer below him were getting frustrated.  Once they got the oversized weapon out of the box and were all huddled around it, trying to set it up, Richard jumped of the pillar and Dive Bombed them.  They made appreciably loud yells of surprise as Zephyr's impact obliterated their cannon and them with it.

He was almost to extraction when something caught his eye.  A kuria! Richard paused to allow his Helios to scan it, then continued toward his Liset.

"Operator," said Ordis as he boarded, "I'm receiving a communication from another Tenno.  She says she knows you, but you've never collaborated on missions."

"Well, let's hear what she has to say."  Ordis obliged, and Lydia's figure came up on the hologram.  "Hello, Lydia."

"Hi, Richard.  I was wondering if maybe we could run together for a while?"

"I was enjoying the time alone, but I suppose some things can't last forever.  Where did you have in mind?"

"Oh, if you were trying to get away from people, then I'll j-"

"No, please.  Some company will do me good.  Where are we going?"

"I was going to head by Saturn to get a few materials."

"Sounds good.  If you don't mind, I haven't really been feeling like taking Trinity anywhere lately."

"But she's so beautiful!"

"That she is.  But after the Manifest I've decided to set her aside until I regain control.  Using other frames should reduce the occurrences."

"Hmm.  Okay. You have anything geared for defense?"

"Take your pick."

"Whatever you like.  Oh, actually, since you should probably know, I'm Valkyr."

"Really?  I would never have guessed that from how you handled yourself at the hearing."

"I've learned to channel my feelings through very careful practice."

"You must have done.  How you put up with Kiri for more than five minutes I can't imagine."

"Ughh, don't even get me _started_ on her."

"Why did you work with her, then?"

"The job used to be fun.  Then she... changed. She stopped wearing Ember and started wearing Nova, and after that she was more confrontational, like she was waiting for something like that interview with you to happen."

"Hmm.  Well, I was going to Frost, but both the Arbiters use him, so I think I'll go with Chroma instead."

"Okay.  Which energy type?" she asked.

"'Lectrics: my energy color is black."

"Okay.  I'm taking Ignis, Sonicor, and Scindo Prime."

"You're built for endless Hysteria, right?"

"I _can_ be.  Why?"

"I'm using Eternal Effigy."

"Oh, okay.  What about your weapons?"

"Sancti Tigris, Lex Prime, Ninkondi."

"I thought you used a Galatine at Loka?"

"I did.”  She was observant, he noticed.  “Ninkondi are much faster, so they're better against small groups for defence.  For clearing a room, a Galatine only needs about three swings. For keeping them away, you just need speed."

"I guess so.  Okay, let's go."

\- -

They'd been there about ten minutes when the parameters changed.  "Tenno," Lotus told them, "I've just received an alarming report. Deri Spectra is here."

"Lotus, you're talking to some strange people," said Richard.  "I crashed a _Fomorian_ into his _house_.  He's definitely not here."

"Well, you must have missed, because he's _definitely_ here."  Almost as soon as the Lotus said this, an explosion sounded and a column of smoke rose above a nearby hill.

“Of _course_ he had a way out of there,” said Richard.  “Okay, Lydia, this could get ugly.”

“Wait, you don’t _actually_ believe her, do you?”

“She’s never lied to me before.  It’s him, and he’s either here to kill me, throw a big party for surviving, plan his next attack, or make his next attack.”

“Well, whatever the reason, he’s going to find a couple of Tenno who won’t stand for it.”

“Let’s go rain on his parade.”

 

**Shadows of the Fire - Chapter 2**

They reached the building that contained the outpost’s power core just as it exploded rather spectacularly.  “Well, _that’s_ bad news,” said Lydia.  We can’t stay here _now_.”

“We’ll head somewhere else, then,” said Richard absentmindedly as he searched the horizon for signs of Spectra.  A flash of metal caught his eye and disappeared behind the corner. Richard let his Effigy go, then jumped up and used it as a launchpad for a flying leap that carried him directly to the intersection he’d just seen the Corpus disappear down.

He made it around the corner just as Rho Cestra reached the end of the dead-end hallway.  He looked over at Richard, fumbling for a datapad on the wall. He disappeared in the teleport portal just as Richard reached him.

“Who was that?” Lydia asked from behind him.

Richard recalled his Effigy.  “The merchant I’ve been working with.  Why is he here?”

“No time to think about that,” she said.  “There’s a lot of Grineer on their way here.”

“Time to go,” agreed Richard.  “Ordis?”

“Seventy meters at 330 mark 35, Operator.”  Richard looked up and saw their two Lisets decloaking.  They ran across the walls and made it back to orbit before the main force of Grineer arrived.

“What happens now?” asked Lydia.

“We go find Spectra.  I’ll worry about Cestra later.”

“Okay.  Any ideas as to where to look?”

“Operator,” said Ordis, “I’ve located Spectra.”

“How?” asked Richard and Lydia at the same time.

“I’ve asked other Cephalons to help us in the search.  Three of them just told me they’re following his ship right now.”

“What about their Operators?” asked Lydia.

“They agreed to remain in pursuit until we arrive.”

“Thank them for us.  Let’s go get him.”

\- -

It didn’t look very expensive to Richard, but recognizing the high-class Corpus style was difficult.  They geared up for a capture mission, but something told Richard things wouldn’t end well. He decided not to switch frames, instead exchanging his Lex Prime for Sancti Castanas.

It didn’t _feel_ very expensive when they broke in, either.  Of course, they were Tenno. There wasn’t much that could keep them out.  The lack of personnel made Richard a little nervous, but Lydia made him feel more at ease with her first comment.

“He’s _broke_.  Not even any robots to keep the ship running.  Look,” she added, gesturing to a broken power conduit.

“Hmm,” said Richard.  They continued toward the front of the ship unopposed.  They turned the last corner to find the door to the bridge already open.

“Well, it comes down to this, doesn’t it?” asked Rho Cestra from the big chair.

“Cestra?” asked Richard.  “What are you doing here?”

“I should have thought it would’ve been obvious,” said Cestra.  “I’m Deri Spectra.”

“You’ve been going by _three_ names?” asked Lydia.

“I don’t use the name Ico Etina anymore, you foolish girl.  Alad V’s disgrace put an end to that.”

“That’s not the only thing that will be over after today,” said Richard.

“Oh, you’re quite right about that,” said Etina/Cestra/Spectra.  “And no, I won’t be telling you who it was that sold the blueprints to the Grineer.”

“What blueprints?” asked Lydia.

“The Corpus built a new anti-Tenno energy weapon designed for orbital bombardment,” Richard explained.  “Someone sold the plans to the Grineer.”

“Their Balor Fomorians already have something like that, though.”

“And now they’ll have _two_ somethings like that,” said the Corpus.  “But I’m afraid the story ends right here for the three of us.  It was nice knowing you both.”

Richard saw what was about to happen in barely enough time to act.  Spectra stood, releasing the dead man's switch in his chair, just as Richard threw his Effigy around Lydia and dove backward down the hall.

 

**Shadows of the Fire - Chapter 3**

“Lydia?” he yelled again.  He was answered only by silence.  “Ordis, get stasis ready. She’s hurt bad.”

“Operator, the ship is breaking up.  There’s no way to get her aboard before she runs out of oxygen.”

“The _hell_ there isn’t.  Set a forcefield and make the boarding ramp into an airlock.  We’re coming in the old-fashioned way.”

“There is a hull breach on the other side of the bridge.  I recommend you jump from there.”

“Noted.”  Richard jumped up the now tilted hallway and grabbed the edge of the door to the bridge.  Lydia was lying on the floor on the other side of the room, her body up against the back of a floor-to-ceiling glass panel that used to be a computer interface.  It took him three tries, but he finally managed to haul himself up the smooth Corpus floor to crouch next to her. Recalling his Effigy, he saw that her Warframe was in pieces.  Apparently the blast had hit her just before the Effigy had closed around her and the shockwave had carried her across the room. Looking down at where she had been standing, Richard knew that if he had done nothing, she would have been vaporized.  Picking up the unconscious Lydia, Richard carried her to the hall and launched himself into space, breathing fire in front of him to keep the space they flew through warm enough to keep her alive. Ordis started closing the ramp before they got in, and dropped the forcefield as soon as the hatch closed.  Richard sprinted for the stasis pod and set Lydia down gently in it. Activating the pod, he opened a comm channel to her Liset. “She’s alive. Don’t worry. I have her in stasis until I can get her to a proper doctor back at our Dojo.”

“Oh, thank Heavens!” replied her Liset’s AI.  “I shall follow you.”

Richard raised the Dojo on the comms as Ordis set a course.  “Simon, get me Katherine. Urgent.”

“She’s on the line at the moment.”

“Break in.   Medical emergency,” he added when Simon started to protest.

“One moment.”  Simon turned to another panel.  “Katherine? I’m sorry, you two, medical emergency.  Call from Richard.”

“I’ll call you back, Amelia,” said Katherine’s voice, then her figure appeared on the holo.  “Richard? What’s wrong?” She immediately began pulling items off the walls and prepping an operating table.

“I’m okay.  You can slow down.  I’m en route to the Dojo right now with a Tenno in critical in my stasis pod.”

“You couldn’t get them into their own Liset?”

Richard shook his head.  “There wasn’t time.”

“What happened to them?”

“She got hit by a Corpus self-destruct at point-blank range on the bridge.”

“She should have been vapor- oh.”  She’d seen what frame he was wearing.  “I didn’t know Chroma’s Effigy could attach to other frames.”

“It isn’t supposed to.”

“I would imagine not.  How bad is it?”

“Her Valkyr was shattered and her breathing was incredibly shallow.  Her pulse was weaker than any I’ve ever seen make it.”

“Well, it looks like we’ve got ourselves a close call.  I expect you in Trinity when you arrive.”

“Katherine, I-”

“Can’t?  Well you damn well _better_ , unless you want her to die.  I’m going to need a continuous Blessing around her if I even want to have a chance.”

“Can’t you get someone else to-”

“Richard, she is going to _die_.  Are you going to just sit there and let it happen, or are you going to _do_ _something_ about it?”

“Katherine, I can’t use Trinity right now.  The Manifests-”

“To _hell_ with your Manifests.  You’re the only person in the Clan who’s even remotely capable of keeping her alive while I work.  And you’re the only one I’d allow in here during an operation anyway. Now man up, and put your Frame back on.  I need you.”

“I could end up killing her, Katherine!”

“She’s going to die unless you save her, Richard.  I’m not going to let you kill my patient.”

“Can’t you just-”

“Richard, when you get off that ship you’re either wearing Trinity or carrying a corpse.”  There was steel in her eyes, and Richard knew she wasn’t going to let this go. “You’re my only chance to save her, and like it or not, in this instance I outrank you.  Don’t make me order you to put that helmet on.”

Richard closed the connection and walked slowly to his Armory.  He donned his Trinity Prime, but didn’t raise the helmet. Looking at the stasis pod, he saw Lydia, her face white with ash, her Warframe in tatters.  She’d ended her own career with the Tenno High Council just to stand up for him, and she’d just risked her life to go with him on a mission he hadn’t even asked for her help with.

The least he could do was return the favor.  The helmet slid into place, and Richard realized that he’d been avoiding the frame for bogus reasons: he could easily undo any damage he caused with his Manifest while wearing her.  Or at least, Katherine could, and he would help. He set the teleport coordinates, and he and the stasis pod were transported directly to the infirmary.

Katherine didn’t say anything about his frame when he arrived.  “Get her on the table.”

Richard opened the stasis pod, lifted Lydia out, and carried her across the room.  Katherine pulled on a pair of surgical gloves and assembled her tools. Richard set Lydia on the table, and threw the medical override in his Trinity’s power dampening system on.  The frame searched for the dojo’s signature to confirm that the request was being made from an infirmary and a qualified physician was present, then complied. Richard held his hand over Lydia’s forehead and cast Blessing.  The dampening feature now disengaged, the frame continually restored Lydia’s nervous system every nanosecond while Katherine went to work.

Two hours passed before Katherine backed up.  “Okay,” she said, “she’s going to make it. You can take her off support.”  Richard stopped the Blessing and dropped his helmet. “You’re every bit the medic you’ve always been, Richard.”

“Maybe, but I’ve got this _killer_ headache…” he put his hand to his forehead, and a green flash obscured his vision.  When it cleared, his headache was gone. “Ooorrr not,” he added.

“You just Manifested again, didn’t you?”

“I must have done, yeah.”

“What caused it to happen this time?”

“I think I know.  I’m gonna go see Tak to be on the safe side.  Call me right away if she wakes.”

 

**Shadows of the Fire - Chapter 4**

“So you think your Manifests are triggered by a specific thought and perform exactly the desired function?” asked Tak.

“So far I’ve only had two, and the second one came right after I wished my headache would go away.”

“And it fixed your headache.”

“Yes.  I touched my hand to my forehead and my headache vanished.”

“Hmm.  Usually Manifests are more random.  But it sounds to me like you have as much control over your Manifest as a new Oro-Keeper has over his abilities.  In time, you may even be able to use powers at-will outside of your Frame.”

“I doubt that.  You usually only get two or three bursts of power outside your frame’s normal usage.”

“Yes, but you usually have zero measure of control over it, too.”

“True enough.  I’ll see you later, Tak.”

“Come back anytime.”  He resumed meditating, and Richard went to the mess hall.

Or, at least, he was _heading_ for the mess hall.  “Richard, she’s awake,” came Katherine’s voice over his Warframe’s comm.  He immediately turned around and raced for the infirmary.

“Hey, you,” he said when he walked in.  “How’re you feeling?”

“Like crap,” she said with a smile.  “You shoved me into a wall, moron.”

“Yeah, well.  I had to think fast.”

“Could have thought a little slower and pulled me back down the hall.  Maybe then I wouldn’t feel like I’d been hit by a tram.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t think about saving you a headache while I was saving your life.”

“I’m just giving you crap because you got out of there okay,” she said with a smirk.

“I didn’t,” he said, projecting a hologram of his the Effigy-less Chroma.  The entire torso had been burned away.

“How did you survive that?”

“I have a ridiculously fast-healing body,” Richard reminded her.  “Comes with the territory when you use Trinity as much as I do.”

“I see you’re wearing her again,” she said.  “Was that because you saved me and felt ‘worthy’ again, or did you just feel guilty you couldn’t keep me in perfect health?”

“I actually had to put her on again because that was the only way you’d survive surgery.  I didn’t want to, but there wasn’t any time to get anyone else here. Besides,” he added with a glance at Katherine’s office, “Katherine was right.  I needed to stop being afraid of her.”

“Well, whatever the reason,” she said, “thank you.”

“My pleasure.  So,” he continued, wanting to change the subject.  “How’s Kiri?”

“Bitter about being stripped of her title.”

“She can’t have been stripped of her title unless that hearing wasn’t the first time something went badly.”

“It was the fourth,” said Lydia.  “In the third one the subject had a stress-induced heart attack and died.”

“How was she still on the Council after that?”

“A majority agreed to give her a second chance,” Lydia said with a shrug.

“I’m guessing Cas wasn’t one of them.”

“ _Hell_ no.  He’s been her most outspoken critic ever since the first incident.”

“On another note,” he said slowly, “why’d you ask me to come with you on that defense?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted.  “I think I just wanted to…” she trailed off, and Richard realized immediately that she had passed out.  He left her to rest.

\- -

“Katherine?” Richard called as he walked in the next morning.

“Yes?” she stuck her head out of her office.

“Can Lydia leave?”

“As long as you stay with her for the next three hours and bring her straight back if any symptoms appear.”

Richard looked at Lydia.  “Let’s go.” He helped her up, and they walked to the hangar.  “Do you have a frame now?”

“I have another Valkyr,” she said.  “I’ve always kept two in case something along the lines of catastrophic failure happens to one of them.  Looks like I was right to plan ahead.”

“Looks like.”

 

**Shadows of the Fire - Chapter 5**

“Who is it?” Kiri’s voice rang out.

“It’s Richard of Miraalan and Lydia.”

“Why are you here?”

“To apologize for the hearing.  Things got a little... out of hand.”

“That they did,” Kiri said, opening the door to her apartment.  “You may come in.”

The room was sparsely furnished, with a table and two chairs up against one wall and a large antimatter container against the other.  “It’s very… Nova,” Richard commented.

“It is.  You were here to say something?” she asked, crossing her arms and leaning against the powder-blue wall.

“Yes.  I came to apologize for my conduct during the hearing.  I felt it was a waste of everyone’s time, and I did not give you my full attention.  I am sorry for the trouble it caused. If there is anything I can do to make it right, I will do my best.”

“As a matter of fact, there is,” she said, stepping backward, towards the antimatter container.  Richard scanned her and realized she was wearing Ember. Snapping his helmet up, he cast Well of Life on the container just as she knocked it to the floor, hand ablaze, and shouted, “You can DIE!”

“Nice try, Kiri,” said Richard as the stasis-locked canister bounced harmlessly along the ground and rolled to a stop next to Lydia, who stared at her former boss in shock.  “But I’m not going to let Lydia get blown up twice in as many days.”

“You were going to kill me,” said Lydia, still frozen in place.  “After three years working with me, you were going to kill me, just like that.”

“Of course I was, you stupid prat,” spat Kiri.  “ _You_ most of all.  You never gave me any respect after Cas started trying to get me to step down from Head Inquisitor.  None of them did.”

“You were going to attack the Council?” asked a bemused Richard.  “There’s no way you’d have gotten anywhere with that plan. Even if you managed to fool every Nyx in that room, the other Novas would have stopped any antimatter attack, and the Frosts would just kill your fire before it left your hand.  Not to mention the Lokis would have ended your attempt before it began. And they all would have survived anyway due to the Oberons and Trinities. You’ve gone mad, Kiri.”

“We’ll see about that,” she said, and moved to hit a datapad in the wall, likely a teleport.  Richard snapped an EV onto her before she could touch it. “You’re not going anywhere,” he said calmly.  “Or did you forget that Trinity can keep you here as long as I want?”

“I’ll call Cas,” said Lydia, moving across the room to the comm panel.

“No,” said Richard.  “Call Alan.”

“Alan?” asked Lydia.  “Why?”

“Because whatever he does, the Council will stand behind.  Not even Cas would object to whatever he decides. And I’m not going to wait forever for him to decide what the rules say about this anyway.”

“Why not?”

“Because the only thing stopping me from killing her right now is the fact that you’re still in the room.”

Lydia turned.  “Why should that make a difference?”

“Because when we strip everything away, in the core of your being, you’re still kind.  You still believe in second chances. And you worked with her for three years. I don’t think you want to see it end like this.”

“No, I don’t,” said Lydia, picking up the canister of antimatter and placing it in Kiri’s outstretched hand.  “So I’ll just close my eyes.” Before Richard could ask what she meant, she raked one of Valkyr’s energy claws across the canister and the other across Kiri’s chest.  Richard reflexively double-cast Blessing just as Lydia dove out of the way.

Kiri and the canister vanished in a flash of white light that engulfed the whole room.

“She threw the canister and you cast Well of Life on me, then Blessed yourself,” said Lydia as she got up.  “There was nothing you could do for her.”

“Why did you do that?” asked Richard.

“Because yes, I _do_ believe in second chances.  But she had _five_ chances.  As far as I’m concerned, that’s three too many.”

Richard nodded and looked around.  “I guess you’re right. Hey,” he said suddenly.  “The walls aren’t white. I thought they’d be white.”

“No, they’re black.  Why did you expect them to be white?”

“Because a ruptured container of antimatter creates atomic fire.  And fire doesn’t cast a shadow.”

“I didn’t know antimatter did that.”

“I’ve never thought about it until now.  We should go,” he added. “We can explain ourselves later.”

“Actually, I’d like to wait,” she said.  “I need to talk to Cas.”

“Okay.”

“Also, I’m going away for a while.”

“Why?”

“I need time.  I need to get away from all this.”

“Sounds reasonable, given what’s just happened.”

“Don’t forget that I still owe you dinner, though.”

“When did you start owing me dinner?” he asked.

“After you roasted Kiri at the hearing.  I told you I’d take you for dinner sometime.”

“You didn’t say that out loud.”

“Oh,” she said, blushing.  “Oops. Well, when I get back, we’ll go to dinner.”

“Okay.”

“You don’t have to stay.”

“I will anyway,” he said.

“Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have (hopefully polite) questions? Have (hopefully relevant) comments? Hell, have any (hopefully at least halfway to quasi-relevant) memes? Drop me a line at sarcasticmathematician @ gmail.com (email address broken to hopefully reduce the amount of crawler-generated flotsam that appears in my inbox) and I'll (maybe) reply in a reasonable* amount of time.
> 
> *the word "reasonable" is hereby defined as "whenever the hell I get around to it, schedule permitting" (what can I say, I'm a busy dude!)


	6. Candles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Candles: Candles  
> In which Richard and Lydia are sentenced to community service on Phenix, and character development occurs.

**Candles - Chapter 1**

Richard entered the mess hall to find Darrin and Ryoko reading a long note from someone.  "Good afternoon, Arbiters."

"Hello, Richard," said Darrin.  "We're just reading this notice that there's to be  _ another _ hearing about something you did?"

Richard sighed.  "Kiri. Yes, I was there when that happened."

"When  _ what _ happened?"

"I'd rather not talk about it unless I must."

"Well, you'll have to talk about it at the hearing."

"I expected as much.  How much trouble am I in this time?"

"None  _ yet _ , but it's going to be rough."

"I expect you both to vote without nepotism.  A Councillor is dead, and it's partially my fault."

"I was afraid you were going to say that," said Ryoko with a heavy sigh.  "Richard, what  _ happened _ in there?"

"That's a story you'll have to wait until the hearing to hear.  You can't go in with preconceptions. And  _ I _ won't go in unless you're as ignorant to the events as the rest of the Council.  There are rules about this, and it's about time I start following them."

"Very well.  I hate to do this, but I'm going to have to ask you to turn over your weapons.  You're to be in secure holding for your safety and others' until the hearing begins."

"I am unarmed, and I would prefer to go without my Frame."

"Are you sure, Richard?" asked Darrin.

"Yes."

"If you say so."  Richard followed Darrin down the hall to guest quarters.  Tak was standing outside. "Tak, let no one in or out until the Council summons him."  Tak nodded gravely and Richard entered the room.

Lydia was already there.  "So much for getting away.”

He shrugged.  “You may yet get your chance.”

“I guess they felt it best to keep both of us in the same place," she said.

"They're hoping we'll talk strategy.  I can show you both cameras."

"They're  _ recording _ us?"

"Standard procedure.  Just cameras, though. No sound.  If we try and plan our approach they'll crack down on us hard.  Best to just go in and tell the truth as we remember it."

"Sounds good to me."

They sat in silence for a while, then Lydia looked over at him.  "Richard?"

"Yes?"

"Could you take the cameras down for a minute?"

"Why?"

"I want to ask you something, but I don't want them to see."

Richard thought for a moment, then stood.  "Okay." He covered the mirror with a sheet to block the camera behind the one-way glass and moved the lamp to blind the second one.  Looking pointedly at the third camera and winking to let whoever was watching know he wasn't actually trying to leave them without a way to see what was going on, he turned back to Lydia.  "What's up?"

"Would you...  Would you hold me for a minute?  I just kinda need a hug right now, and I don't want them getting the wrong idea about us."

Richard sat, his back to the camera.  "What if someone comes in?"

She crossed the room as if to sit next to him and collapsed right in front of him.  Instinctively he reached out and caught her, pulling her up next to him on the couch.  "I'll stop you from falling over every time, but I won't give anyone any ideas unless I'm having the same ones myself."

"Seems fair," she sighed.  "So, what are we going to do about this hearing?"

"We're going to tell them the truth and let them decide what to do from there.  Not much else we  _ can _ do."

"Okay.  Are we going to mention which frame she was wearing?"

"We would have to.  That's something they'd be able to figure out anyway, and it would reassure them that we have nothing to hide."

"You're right."

"You should try and get some rest."  Richard crossed the room and flopped down on one of the cots.  Lydia didn’t leave the couch. “I’m sorry you didn’t get to leave for that getaway.”

“Me too.”

“Goodnight, Lydia.”

****

**Candles - Chapter 2**

The hearing was to be a full trial, but with no entering plea.  After all, the Council had no idea what happened in Kiri's apartment except that Kiri had disappeared in a flash of antimatter and was pronounced dead for obvious reasons.

"Time to go, Richard," said Darrin.

"Let's hope they'll keep an open mind," said Richard as he walked to the teleporter.

"So far, there has been no evidence presented but what the Code says regarding various circumstances and the camera feeds of her dojo's hallway."

"Then they still have no idea as to what actually happened in there?"

"All we know is three Tenno entered and two Tenno left."

"It's time to set things right, then."

"Is there something that's currently set  _ wrong _ ?"

"Kiri.  What everyone thinks of her.  She's a rather tragic character in all this, actually."

"It seems you have quite a story to tell."

"That I do."

\- -

He said his piece, and the result was more or less what he expected.  Calls for imprisonment and the like. What he  _ hadn't _ expected was the Lotus.  She'd chastised the entire Council on his behalf.  He'd ended up with just a month's sentence, and that sentence was to work in a  _ hospital _ .  Richard had gotten off remarkably well.  To top it all off, the hospital was on New Eden, a place he'd always wanted to go.

Lydia had been assigned to work on New Eden as well, as one of the normal aides for the Arbiters of Hexus.  That was also the Lotus: according to the Code, she should have been executed.

Another part of his sentence was psych eval from Katherine.

"So," said Katherine as he came in, "I'm supposed to check on you once a month to make sure you're still mentally stable.  Thing is, you've never been mentally  _ un _ stable.  Yes, you allowed Lydia to kill Kiri.  But that wasn't because you're losing it.  It's because you didn't believe that she deserved to live.  You've already admitted that it was wrong of you to allow Lydia to do it and that you should have waited for the Council to decide that, and you've been served your punishment for that.  So as far as I'm concerned, you're free to do as you please. But orders are orders, so at least for the next year you'll have to come in once a month."

"It'll be an excuse to catch up."

She smiled.  "I suppose. You've got a class to teach in a few minutes."

"So I do.  See you next month, Katherine."

He walked quickly to the garden, passing general quarters on the way.  "Richard," called Kira from her room as he passed.

"Hello, Kira.  Is there something I can help you with?"

"I was wondering if I could join your class today."

"Of course.  We're working with dual daggers this afternoon."

"I'll grab my pair.  It's in the gardens, right?"

"Yep."

"Okay.  Don't let me keep you," she added as she closed the door again.  Richard kept moving.

He was surprised to see ten Tenno in the garden when he arrived.  He usually only had four or five with him on any given weekend. He was even more surprised to see Cas seated in the center of the group, wearing a white robe.

"Councillor?"

"I'm here to learn, Richard.  I've been meaning to try something like this for a while, and I've found the last few days especially trying."

"Did I miss anything?" asked a breathless Kira as she reached the gardens.

"Not at all.  Please, join us," said Cas, motioning for her to sit with the group.  She did.

"First off, since there a couple new people, I'm going to start slowly and work up speed as we go.  Everyone okay with that?" All nodded, and he continued. "Right. I'm going to demonstrate the basic ready forms, and then we'll begin."

 

**Candles - Chapter 3**

"I leave for New Eden in fifteen minutes.  Any last-minute advice or equipment you think I need?"

"None that I can think of," said Katherine.  "If I think of anything or you need anything out there, I'll send it.  And remember, it’s called Phenix now."

"Right.  Thank you," Richard told her.  They shook hands, and Katherine's hand lingered on his shoulder.

"You should talk to Melanie when you get there," she said.  "Let her know exactly what happened and what you're doing about it."

"Okay.  See you in a few weeks."  Richard turned and boarded the transport ship.

"You're Dr. Erich?" asked the Loka doctor who appeared to be in charge.

"That's me," he said.

"Good, that makes all of us.  Everyone?" she said, raising her voice.  "This is Doctor Alistair Erich. He'll be working with us at Phenix."

"What's your specialty?" asked one of the other doctors.

"Everything," said Richard amiably.  "I don't focus on any one thing; I can do it all."

"Some things better than others, though," the doctor said.

"Nope.  No matter the problem, I'll keep you alive and well, body and mind."

"You can't say that," said another doctor.  "You can't just  _ fix _ bullet holes."

"Do they know?" Richard asked the head doctor in a low voice.

"They'll only know if you tell them," she said.

"I see."  Turning back to the other occupants, he spread his arms.  "I can fix anything. Comes with the territory. But from what I'm told, we're not expecting bullet holes."

"We aren't  _ expecting _ anything," said the first doctor to speak up.  "But we're  _ prepared _ for everything.   _ You _ , on the other hand, seem to be content to boast without any evidence that what you say is true."

"I’m on Miraalan’s medical staff," Richard told him evenly.

"If you don't mind my asking," said the second doctor, "why are you here, then?"

Richard turned back to her.  "I thought it was high time I did something to help the common people for a change."  They seemed to relax. "I wish you health and good fortune on our journey together."

\- -

They arrived on Phenix, and Richard couldn't believe the fresh air.  It smelled too good to be real, but he knew it was. The rest of the Loka personnel started schlepping boxes while he followed a guard to the Chancellor's house.  He found Melanie on the front porch with a little girl, presumably her daughter Sai'ah.

"Yes," said the girl when he reached the porch, "I am."

"Sai'ah," said Melanie, "you're not supposed to-"

"It's quite alright, Madam Chancellor," said Richard with a wave of his hand.  "Whereas other people are more guarded, my thoughts are close to the surface. I do not hesitate to speak my mind.  If your daughter is as powerful as Ryoko has led me to believe, my thoughts just now were likely picked up by her subconscious as naturally as hearing someone speak out loud."

"She's been practicing keeping her displays to a minimum."

"It's hard," complained Sai'ah.  "I don't know how to turn it off."

"Ryoko told me to come see you when I arrived," continued Richard.  "So you could put a face to the name."

"And I have.  We are grateful for your help, ‘Doctor Erich’."  There was a touch of amusement in her voice at the pseudonym.

"It's my pleasure.  And it's also my punishment, so I can't really complain.  Not that I would: I've always wanted to see this place. It's  _ beautiful _ ."

Melanie smiled.  "Thank you. It may not be much, but it's home."

"Not much?  This is more than we have at the Dojo."

"It'll be bigger soon, too.  We're working on building more roads and new homes for more families."

"That's wonderful."  Richard checked the time.  "I'd best be off. If you ever need anything, Chancellor, you need only ask.  It was nice to meet you, Sai'ah."

"Nice to meet you, too, Mister Richard."

Richard laughed.  "Just Richard.  _ Mister _ doesn't really fit."

"Why not?" asked Melanie.

"Because my nickname in the Clan is ‘Mama Trinity’."

"That's funny," giggled Sai'ah.

"They certainly think so.  I'll see you two later."

 

**Candles - Chapter 4**

Working in a hospital without a Warframe took some getting used to.  Eventually Richard realized that it was easiest to pretend he was in an Excalibur and use the tools available to him as such.  Things went a lot smoother after that.

The first few times he'd caught himself trying to use Well of Life or Blessing on a patient, the other doctors had looked at him in alarm.  "Sorry," he'd say. “I’m used to different equipment.”

By now, he was relying completely on the instruments and his own skill as a physician.  Not many people apart from the Arbiters and the Clan’s medical staff knew he had an actual physician's license to practice medicine without the use of a Warframe, just as Katherine did.  The old tricks of the trade came flooding back to him as soon as he unlearned the instincts Trinity had given him.

His official assignment had originally been basic nurse or technician duties, but that had changed almost immediately.  Richard could do a lot of things, but being someone's assistant when he knew more than they did was not one of them. Pulling up his certification, he'd shown his supervisor the citation for exemplary crisis evaluation.  He was now officially assigned to the crisis ward.

Of course, there weren't many crisis situations on Phenix.  In the last two weeks, there had been exactly three patients.  The first was a child who had fallen into a campfire by accident, which had made for an easy fix.  The second had been a pregnant woman who had required a cesarean, which was complicated only because she'd had conjoined twins.  The third was a kubrow who'd eaten something which turned out to be poisonous to him. That one was tricky, since he'd arrived after the reaction started.  It had been dicey for about an hour, but he was now doing well and eating as much food as people put in front of him. He'd be released later this afternoon.

Meanwhile, Richard helped out wherever he was needed, resetting dislocated shoulders, mending broken arms, and fixing other minor injuries.  Nothing truly eventful had happened, and that suited him just fine. The quiet life was actually quite appealing, when you got right down to it.  Too bad the Tenno were still fighting a war.

\- -

"Alistair?" called his supervisor, a young woman named Claire.

"Yes?" he asked, wiping his hands with a towel.  He had just finished his lunch break.

"There's a party tonight at the Pavilion.  The food will be excellent, and there's always a dance.  You should go. You've done more than your share of work while you're here."

"This is supposed to be a punishment for me, you know."

"It's supposed to be a  _ getaway _ for you.  I was told that you were sent here specifically because it would provide a nice change of pace for you.  The punishment is not being able to wear a Warframe or do things that a Tenno would normally do. You're actually here to relax and take some time to reflect on what's happened.  They're hoping you get into less trouble when you get back. Well, actually," she said with a smirk, "their exact words were ' _ cause _ less trouble'.  You've been making quite a mess lately."

"Only  _ one _ of those incidents was my fault, though," said Richard in a sarcastic-complaint tone-of-voice.

"That may be, but it was the death of one of your own Councillors that brought you here."

"That's true.  I wouldn't change what happened now, although I would have preferred no one die just to get me here."

"Spoken like a true doctor."

"I  _ am _ a real physician, you know."

"So you are.  Take the rest of the day off.  You've been pulling double shifts for the last three days, and  _ don't _ tell me you haven't, I've  _ seen _ you," she said, raising a finger at him when he started to deny it.

"Yes, ma'am."  Richard hung his scrubs on a hook and stepped out into the mid-afternoon air.  The sun was hidden behind a large, fluffy bank of white clouds, but its light was still enough to illuminate the entire settlement in a soft glow.  A slight breeze had picked up, and carried with it the smell of grass and flowers. It really was worthy of its former name. The only description of Eden anyone had was from the book Ryoko had, the one written in Old Orokin.

He walked through the center of town, past a group of children playing tag around the fountain, and stopped in front of the bakery.  He hadn't had a chance to sample anything they made yet, so he decided to go in.

The instant he opened the door his senses were flooded.  Every kind of pastry, confectionery, cookie, cake, pie, scone, pasty, and sweet thing anyone could think of was made here, and they all smelled wonderful.  He looked around him slowly, his mouth watering. "Hello there," said an old man with a kindly face and hands long since burnt brown from baking. "You're new around here, aren't you?"

Richard nodded, still taking it all in.  "I never thought I'd see so many baked goods in one place."

"Most of these are for the celebration tonight."

"I heard about that.  What's the occasion?"

"Life, and the beauty of it.  There's no real  _ reason _ .  We just felt like spending time together to have a little fun."

"How much would it cost me to take one of everything here?"

"Oh, don't bother with that.  Just take some of whatever you'd like tonight.  If you especially enjoy something, come by tomorrow and I'll give you the recipe."

"That's very kind of you," said Richard.  "I think I'll still be having one of those pasties."

"One of those you can have for a smile and your name," said the old man, wrapping two up for him.  "The other one's on me."

"Thank you," said Richard with a smile.  "I’m Doctor Alistair Erich."

"Really?" he asked as he handed Richard the bag.  "What are you doing out here?"

"I'm working at the hospital."

"Bless you," said the old man.  "We can never have too many doctors."

"That's the unfortunate truth," said Richard sadly.  "Personally, I wish for the day when we won't need any doctors.  If we get there, we'll have created a true paradise."

"Wouldn't that be something," agreed the old man.  "See you around, Doc."

 

**Candles - Chapter 5**

There were close to three hundred people gathered for the party.  Richard was walking around the edges, taking food from every table and clapping along to the music, when Lydia popped up behind him.  "Hi," she said brightly.

"Hello," he said, turning around.  "How have you been?"

"Busy.  Keeps my mind off things."

"You'll never get to leave if you keep that attitude, you know."

"What do you mean?"

"Your sentence is until you are deemed fit to return to being a Tenno.  If you don't move past what's happened, if you don't make peace with what you've done, you'll never be anything but a scribe for Hexus."

"Maybe I don't  _ want _ to be," she said, taking a step back.

"I don't believe that for a  _ second _ .  But enough of that," he said, finishing his drink.  "This is a  _ party _ , after all.  Let's try and have some fun."  He offered her his hand. "I actually  _ know _ this dance."

She took his hand and stepped up closer to him.  "So do I."

They danced for hours, fumbling the ones they didn't know but adding extra twirls and steps to the ones they did.  Finally the music stopped, and they stood looking at each other, confused. "Oh, was that the last one?" asked Richard.

"Awww," said Lydia.  "Oh, they're out of pasties..." she added sadly, looking at the empty table.

"Not quite," said Richard.  "I happen to have two back at my apartment."

"How did you know I liked them?" she asked curiously.

"I didn't.  I went into the bakery and decided to buy one, and the man was kind enough to give me another one for free."

"That was nice of him."

"Yes, it was.  Shall we?" They set off down the path for Richard's apartment.

"So, what have  _ you _ been doing?" she asked as they walked.

"I've been working all over the place: wherever I'm needed."

"Anything scary happen?"

"A kubrow almost died of an allergic reaction, but other than that it's been extremely quiet.  How about you? What have they had  _ you _ doing?"

"Mostly I'm translating old manuscripts they've collected that have to do with things like honor and loyalty.  Occasionally we find a bit of poetry."

"Sounds interesting," he said sarcastically.

"It  _ is _ ,” she said earnestly.  “You should come by some time."

"I never had the patience for translating."

"I didn't mean to help, silly," she said as she did a twirl from the last dance.

"I'll see if I have time," he said with a smile.  "Here we are."

"I was waiting until ‘later’ to eat one the whole night," she said as he pulled one out of the bag and handed it to her.  "I guess it wasn't such a bad idea after all."

"Guess not," he agreed as he bit into his own.

"Mmm, dish iz gooood...," she said through a mouthful of pasty.

Richard waited until he had swallowed to respond.  "Yes, it is."

"So, there's another dance next weekend," she said as he took another bite.  "You coming?"

"Sure," he said.  "We can get pasties again."

"Sounds like a plan," she said with a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have (hopefully polite) questions? Have (hopefully relevant) comments? Hell, have any (hopefully at least halfway to quasi-relevant) memes? Drop me a line at sarcasticmathematician @ gmail.com (email address broken to hopefully reduce the amount of crawler-generated flotsam that appears in my inbox) and I'll (maybe) reply in a reasonable* amount of time.
> 
> *the word "reasonable" is hereby defined as "whenever the hell I get around to it, schedule permitting" (what can I say, I'm a busy dude!)


	7. Wax

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A main character being introspective can be quite the interesting experience for a reader. It can also be really boring if the reader doesn't care. I've done the best I can to keep you invested in the story, but I realize that the lack of flashback mode up to this point has been a bit annoying. Don't worry, all will be explained soonTM!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Candles: Wax  
> In which Richard's Manifest gets stronger, Richard spends a great deal of time getting it under control and thinking about the future, and Sai'ah learns an important lesson about adulthood.

**Wax - Chapter 1**

He had almost forgotten about his Manifest.

_ I mean _ , he thought,  _ I  _ am _ wearing nullifiers _ .  Of course, the nullifiers wouldn't prevent the Manifest, only slow it down and block the minor symptoms.  And since his only two major Manifests so far had been under moments of duress, he wasn't expecting one to flare up this month: he'd been spending very little time out of the nullifiers anyhow.

Richard had a theory about what was triggering the Manifests, but he wasn't going to test it unless fate threw opportunities at him.  Intentionally causing instances where people needed to be saved was against every code for Tenno and doctors alike, but Richard wouldn't have done that even if he was neither.  It just wasn't right.

Normally, a Manifest started after a certain point out of cryosleep, and when the subject was under a period of extreme stress.  After that, though, they tended to take on aspects of the person's personality, showing up whenever they felt like it and messing with that person's idea of 'normal'.

Caster frame pilots usually experienced moments where they felt as if their element was exuding from their pores, and in extreme cases it actually did.  Excaliburs and Mesas didn't really follow the normal rules, and Richard didn't know any who’d had a Manifest to ask besides that jerk Marcus, and that wasn't gonna happen.

Pilots of Healing Frames like Richard typically found that they created chemical imbalances in their own brains if they didn't gain control of it quickly.  Other effects included mood swings and temporary numbing of a random area of nerves. Serious problems like adrenaline rushes were known to occur, but that was a symptom of an uncontrolled manifest.

Now that he thought about it, actually, there  _ had _ been a few minor symptoms of his Manifest since he'd gotten here.  His sleep cycle had been disrupted the first couple days he'd taken off the nullifiers at night.  That was a chemical imbalance in his brain. He sighed. It would seem he'd have to make a more proactive attempt at controlling this.

\- -

Didn't take long for fate to throw him a curve.

Claire had sent him down into the mines for the day to treat minor cuts and scrapes to prevent infection.  The people here were so friendly: he'd gotten four or five offers to share lunch, even though he'd probably brought the biggest lunch out of anyone there.

He was just finishing wrapping a fifty-something-year-old man's finger when a loud FWOOSH sounded from around the corner.  "Down!" yelled the man, and pulled Richard to the ground as a jet of flame the size of the tunnel flooded out.

"What was that?" asked Richard as he stood up.  He offered his hand to the miner, who took it.

"Someone must have hit a thick patch of some flammable gas and struck a pickaxe in the wrong place," he said as Richard pulled him up.  "I’ve been workin’ mines a long time, young man. Happens every year or so in most of ‘em, but this is the first time it’s happened here."

"Are they okay?"

"Oh, sure."  The man gestured to his clothes.  "Our garb's fireproof. Their face’ll be baked like a cake, but if they ain't fresh outta training they'll’ve got their hood up in time to keep from gettin’ burnt."

"Huh," said Richard.  "Well, I'll see you around.  I'm gonna go check and make sure they'll all fine."

"Sure thing," said the man, picking up his tools.  "Tell ‘em the fire stopped at J-78 while you're at it."

"Okay."  Richard set off down the tunnel.  About a minute later, he passed a miner who was on her way out: presumably her shift was up.

"They're all good back there," she said amiably.  "Just three of us, and we've all been here a few years."

"Okay, that's good to hear," Richard said, slowing down.  "Thanks for telling me."

"Sure thing.  How far'd the fire get, or do you know?"

"J-78, according to McGaffrey."  Richard hadn't realized he'd read the name on the back of the man's overalls until he said the name.

"Oh, that's not bad, then.  See you around!" She waved and bounced off, her helmet bumping against her knee.

Richard heard the rumbling a split second before the ceiling caved in.  He instinctively stretched out his hand to Bless her, realizing as he did that it was no use.

\- -

He woke up on a hospital bed, feeling bruised but otherwise fine.  He looked around him and saw eight other occupied beds. McGaffrey was sitting on the one across from him.  "How you faring, Doc?"

"Call me Alistair," said Richard, "and I'm fine.  Just a little sore. Is this everyone from the mine?"

"Everyone from the section that came down.  No one was seriously ‘urt, which is a bloody miracle.  Even  _ one _ person making it outta there woulda been incredible."

_ It was no miracle _ , thought Richard.  It was his Manifest.  He'd tried to Bless that miner, and his Manifest must have blossomed out and mended everyone the ceiling had buried.

"Alistair, you're awake," said Claire.  "What happened?" She reached him and lowered her voice as she leaned over to examine the sterile pads on his back.  "What did you do?" she whispered in awe.

"The ceiling caved in on us," he told her.  "I don't know how any of us got out alive, let alone unhurt."

"Oh, you were all hurt," she told him.  "But the injuries were healed almost immediately after they were sustained.  How did you do that?"

"I didn't do anything," said Richard.  "Without a Warframe, I'm just as mortal as you."

The young woman he’d passed right before the tunnel caved in sat up in the bed next to his.  "Wha-" she said. "I'm not dead?"

"No," said Claire, rushing over to check on her, "you're not.  Just a few bumps and bruises. We don't know how, but everyone made it out."

"How?" she asked, looking around.  She spotted Richard, and her eyes widened.  "Did  _ you _ do something?" she asked.  "No one else could have done anything to save us, and I've never seen you before today."

Richard shook his head.  "I’m just as confused as you.  I have no idea what happened."

"Oh," she said.  "Where are you from?"

Richard stood and walked over to sit on her bed.  "I'm Alistair, from Miraalan," he said, offering her his hand.

"Alaina.  From Phenix," she added with a smile.

"Nice to meet you.  Get some rest. You’re gonna be very sore tomorrow unless you take it easy."

"Okay," she said agreeably, and laid her head back on the pillow.  Richard smiled and turned to Claire. 

"I'd like to take tomorrow off," he told her.  "I need time to work on my... condition."

"Oh, okay," she said, a little confused.  "Sure."

"Thanks."  Richard walked back to his apartment and went straight to sleep.

 

**Wax - Chapter 2**

"So you're saying the major occurrences have happened when you acted out of instinct?"

"The first two weren't," Richard reminded him.  "The first one I was just really pissed, and the second time I just rubbed my forehead."

"Hmm," said Tak.  "Maybe you should try to use your Manifest for little things at different times during the day, so it won't overload like this.  If you can gain control of it, then we won't have to worry about it killing you. Plus if you can control it, you can use it in more situations like today."

"You're right.  I'll try different things with it and let you know if I get anywhere."

"You have to let me know if you  _ don't _ , too.  An uncontrolled Manifest is not…  _ benign _ ."

"Alright.  I'll keep you apprised."  Richard shut off the hologram and rubbed his eyes.  Where to begin?

Logically speaking, it would make sense to try and do some of the parlor tricks Trinity was capable of performing when she had excess energy.  Usually it was little things like a wisp of the light that shone when you Blessed someone or a small ball of energy that shimmered slightly.

In order to do that, you had to focus in the back of your mind, which required a clear head.  Right now, Richard's mind was anything but clear. He decided to do a few kata and then meditate.

He hadn't brought any weapons with him, so he had to settle for using dinner knives as daggers.  They were much lighter than he was used to, and it took him a few goes to get used to them. After that it was easy going to ramp up to the more complicated patterns.

Eventually he was able to focus on a singular topic: producing the shimmering light Trinity used as a parlor trick.  He recalled the thoughtwave pattern needed to get the trick started, and to his surprise he was able to produce the same feeling in his hand he got when he did the cantrip.

Not really that impressive, but it was promising.  He continued to work on it until dinner, and managed to get a flicker of light a couple of times.  He'd try again tomorrow.

\- -

Richard usually spent his Saturdays in his apartment anyway, though it was to work on the project he'd brought with him, not his Manifest.  Still, no one would notice anything was different if he didn't leave the house all day.

By lunchtime he'd managed to get a flicker every time he tried.  Making himself a big lunch, he called the Dojo. "Hey, Simon," he said when the comm technician's face came up on his screen.  "Are either of the Arbiters in?"

"Both, but Darrin's free right now.  I'll put you through."

Darrin was reading a book, but looked up when his comm beeped.  "Hey, Richard. How's it going over there?"

"Fairly decent.  Some pretty crazy shit happened with my Manifest on Thursday.  It's all fine," he added when Darrin started to look concerned.  "I just overexerted myself a little. I'm working on getting control of it, and it's looking fairly promising.  I'm going to stay another month after my sentence is up to keep working on it, maybe longer."

“Okay,” said Darrin, nodding.  “I’ll tell everyone you’re making progress on your Manifest and that you’re going to stay another month to keep working on it.”

“Thanks.  Well, that’s all for now.  See you later, Darrin.” He closed the connection and set about eating his lunch.

\- -

He didn't eat dinner until nearly midnight because he was practicing so intently.  He was managing to get a flicker every time now. It wasn't much, but after two days of practice he was starting to feel pretty good about his chances at getting control of his Manifest before something bad happened to him.  Typically you had about three months to seize control before the Manifest seized control of you. Richard was only three weeks in, so he still had plenty of time to get the hang of this.

He spent the rest of the weekend practicing the cantrip.  By Sunday evening he could summon a small ball of dancing light, just like he could in the Warframe.  It took considerably more effort, but he took this as a sign that it was time to try bigger and better things.  His next attempt would be to use a degraded form of Energy Vampire to add electrolytes to water and create a sort of energy drink.

 

**Wax - Chapter 3**

Richard had an extremely uneventful day at work on Monday, which wasn't surprising.  The mine had been closed until Thursday to allow new shorings to be placed and the miners to recover.  He wasn't staying after-hours, either. He finally had something to do that was both urgent and intriguing, and he intended to get the hang of it before going back to his other projects.

That evening he tried to combine the thoughts you need to trigger the light cantrip and the ones used to cast EV to see if he could make a few weak electrolytes in a glass of water.  To his surprise, he managed to make something that worked nearly as well as the energy drinks Gareth sometimes had on the first try. Confused, he tried again. The same results. It was only after the third go that he realized what was happening.

His Manifest was creating the electrolytes in the water by burning some of his own.  Then, when he drank the infused water, he got them back. That's why it felt like he was getting an energy boost.  He'd have to work harder at it to avoid burning himself out just to give someone else energy.

\- -

Friday rolled around, and Richard was moderately pleased with the results he'd achieved.  He could now create electrolytes in any beverage he'd tested without using too many of his own.  His Manifest apparently only needed a template, and used Richard's mental energy to make more. He could only do it once or twice before getting thoroughly exhausted, but hey, he had two new cantrips.  His Manifest hadn't flared up either, which could either be because he hadn't been stressed or because he'd been using it often. He wasn't about to induce stress on himself, so he'd just have to wait to find out which one it was.

Tonight, though, there was another dance.  He'd picked up another pair of pasties on his way home from work, and was going to meet Lydia in a few minutes.  He decided to try the ball of light cantrip again before he left.

The results were fantastic.  He could produce a shimmer the same size as the one his Warframe could do.  Richard felt a spark of pride at the progress he'd made. This would be something cool to show Lydia later.

\- -

She was wearing a light blue shirt with a knee-length skirt in a darker hue.  His light gray shirt and black pants would stand out a little more from the brightly-colored crowd, but it matched her outfit well.

“You look nice,” she told him as they walked to the pavilion.

“Not half as nice as you,” he said with a smile, which made her blush.

“Stoppit.”

“You want me to  _ stop _ telling you nice things?”

“No…”

“Okay.”

They walked in silence for a bit.

"I got another pair of pasties this afternoon, so we don't have to worry about grabbing any while we're here."

"You just want me to come home with you again, don't you?" she asked with a wry smile.

"I won't say it wasn't nice to share them with you last time."

"It  _ was _ nice."

They reached the pavilion, and received a few nods and smiles from a few people who saw them arrive.   _ Everyone here is so content with life _ , thought Richard.   _ This is as complex as things  _ get _ here _ .  It was a simple, quiet life for most of them, and Richard almost wished he could stop being a Tenno and stay here.

"But our life as Tenno has its better points, too," said Lydia softly.  "Sure, there's a lot of fighting. But fighting together is a part of our life, just as eating and playing games together are."

"How did you know what I was thinking?" he asked her.

"I don't know.  I just... felt it."  She paused, thinking.  "Maybe we've forged a mental connection."

"It's possible," Richard said, musing.  "We must be getting along better than we thought."

"Why do you say that?  Lots of Tenno have mental connections."

"The neural links between Clanmates or coworkers aren't the same thing.  They're more like another comm channel, but mental. You still have to choose what to say, and they'll only get your message if you actually decide to send it."

"So, if I'm picking up on mental impressions you're having..."

"Then we're becoming close friends, yes."

"I think I’m okay with that," she said after a moment, looking at him and smiling.

He put his arm around her shoulder.  "I think I am, too."

She slid an arm around his waist, and they walked around the edges of the group for a while, talking.  They were getting drinks when Richard felt a tap on his shoulder.

"Hello!" said Sai'ah as he turned to see who it was.

"Hello, Sai'ah," he said.  "Are you enjoying the party?"

"Mom says these parties aren't meant for people my age, but I like to watch the dancing.  It's like you're telling a story without using words."

"That's true.  Have you met Lydia?" he asked, turning to include her in the conversation.  "Sai'ah, this is Lydia. Lydia, this is Sai'ah."

"Hello," said Lydia.  "It's nice to meet you.”

"And you," said Sai'ah brightly.  "How long will you be working with the Arbiters, Lydia?"

"I'm not sure," she said, then paused.  "Wait, how did you know that?"

"It’s not important."  She looked back and forth between them.  "You guys look nice together. You should dance!"

"We were just going to," said Lydia.  She tugged Richard towards the center of the crowd.  "Come on, you."

"Alright," said Richard, letting her drag him along.  "See you around, Sai'ah!"

_ Richard _ , said Sai'ah's voice in his mind as he reached the center of the floor,  _ could you meet me in one of the fields out west of town tomorrow afternoon? _

Richard paused, confused, then decided the best way to respond would be to treat this conversation as a neural link and just sort of push thoughts back the way they'd come.   _ Which one? _

_ You pick.  Go out for a walk and I'll find you. _

That was for the best, Richard realized.  After all, he was here as a normal person.  The Chancellor's daughter spending time with him wouldn't raise any eyebrows if everyone knew he was a Tenno, but part of his punishment was his blending in.  The only people who knew were Melanie, Sai'ah, some of the guardsmen, and his supervisor at the hospital. And Lydia, of course, but that was a given.  _ Okay.  I'll go for a walk around 2 Second Shift. _

"Are you alright, Richard?"  He'd missed a step.

"Yeah.  Sorry." He turned his attention back to Lydia and the dance.

 

**Wax - Chapter 4**

They were walking back to his apartment when Lydia had a thought.  "Richard," she asked, "who’s Sai'ah?"

"Melanie's daughter."

"She's the Chancellor's daughter?"

"Yes."

"I didn't know you were involved in the politics here."

"Ryoko was one of the founders of Phenix,” he reminded her.  “Most of the important people in government and defense know the members of our Clan, at least by name."

"Oh, that's true.  I keep forgetting this place is a secret."

"Indeed it is.  There have been some shenanigans here, too."

"How do you mean?"

"The Archons, for starters.  That whole project raised quite a few eyebrows on the Council."

"Oh, yeah, I remember that."  They'd reached his apartment. "This is the second time you've bought dinner for me."

"Not like I paid for it in the traditional sense.  I just helped him make a batch and he let me take a couple."

"The people here are so casual about money."

"They don't really need it, when you think about it."

"I guess."

"Catch."  He tossed her a pasty.  "You want anything to drink?"

"Nothing that'll make me more tired than I already am."

Richard smiled.  "That reminds me, there's something I've been meaning to show you."  He flicked a glass of water and handed it to her.

"Where'd you find this stuff?" she asked as she drank.  "I'm not tired anymore."

"That's actually just water.  I've been practicing my Manifest, and I can use it to add electrolytes to liquids now."

"That's so cool!"

"Watch this," said Richard, the corner of his mouth curling up in a wry grin.  He performed the cantrip, this time holding the ball for a few seconds longer than normal before letting it dissipate.

She stared with her pasty halfway to her mouth.  "Since when can you do  _ that _ ?"

"Since this week.  I've been trying little things like that as a way to gain conscious control over my Manifest."

"That's really neat, Richard."

"I just wish I could do other things with it," he said.  "I've been working on that, but I'm not having much luck so far."

"Practice makes perfect," she said, "but also, maybe it works like the energy pool of a Warframe.  You can't use an ability unless you can power it."

"Maybe that's part of it," he said as finished his pasty.  "Ryoko described it to me as a Manifest being the deterioration of the mental block we have against using our powers outside a Warframe.  Unless we stop our power from leaking by putting up conscious control valves on it, our power will flow out freely and wreak havoc."

"You know so much about everything," she said in wonder.

"Actually, all I know is a little of everything.  I know  _ everything _ about nothing."

"That... actually makes  _ sense _ ."

"You saying that things I say normally  _ don't _ ?"

" _ No _ , but-" he crossed the room and poked her in the stomach.  "Hey!" she said, giggling as he poked her again. "Stoppit!  That tickles!"

"Poke, poke, poke," he said, laughing, continuing to poke her.

"You're no fair," she said, dodging away.  "I haven't finished my pasty."

"You're right."  He stopped. "I'll wait."

She finished her pasty slowly, then crossed to the corner he'd kept bare, for meditation.  "I think we should try to create an active mental link. So we can say things we don't want others to hear."

"Are you implying there are things you want to say to me you don't want someone else to hear?"

"Maybe," she said slowly.

"Lydia," he said cautiously, "are you alright?"

"You were right earlier when you said we were becoming close friends.  It makes sense to create the link now while we have the time, to make sure the connection is strong."

Richard thought about this.  "You're right." He knelt next to her.  "Then let's begin."

"Oh, thank goodness you know how," she said with a sigh of relief.  "This would have been awkward otherwise."

Richard smiled.  "Close your eyes and concentrate on what my voice sounds like inside your head when you hear it.  It evokes a specific feeling in you. When Ryoko and Darrin speak to one another, the feeling they get is trust, the trust between brothers.  Think about what my voice makes you feel. Do not say anything, just concentrate on the feeling. I will do the same, and when we have reached clarity of focus the connection will forge itself."

"Will you know which emotion I choose?"

"No," he lied.  If she chose differently because she knew he would get an imprint of the emotion, then the link would not form properly.

He himself would choose carefully, as he wasn't sure how their relationship would end.  If Lydia never got over what happened with Kiri, they would never move forward. If she never left Phenix, their relationship would naturally stagnate.  Therefore, he would choose the protective instinct he felt whenever he heard any of his Clanmates speak. This would convey to her how much he cared without revealing how much he hoped they would grow closer.

A wash of calm, like a sigh of contentment, flooded his mind.  This must have been the emotion she chose.

She sat back in surprise.  "You said you wouldn't know what I chose."

"I  _ don’t _ know what you chose.  I only felt the part of the feeling that has the most influence over your actions when you interact with me.  Just as you felt my protective instinct rather than the whole picture, because it is by far the strongest of the feelings I get when I go anywhere with my friends and Clanmates."

"So, what  _ did _ you feel?"

"Contentment.  Which is a feeling shared by me as well.  We are good friends, and, especially in this place, that's really all you need in life."

She nodded.  "That's true.  So, did it work?"

He tried sending a thought.   _ What do you think? _

She smiled.   _ I think it worked just fine. _

\- - 

"What's been bothering you, Sai'ah?"  He was sitting on the grass, and she was bouncing around, blowing dandelion seeds.

"Nothing."

"Nonsense," Richard said.  "You wouldn't have asked me to come here with you if there wasn't something you wanted to ask me.  You know what my job is, and you were hoping I would have some bits of wisdom to offer you."

"Are you psychic, too?" she asked him, stopping mid-cartwheel.

"No," Richard laughed, as much at her question as her upside-down position.  "But I was a child once. I don't remember much before the Zariman, but I do know that a child sees the world much more simply than an adult does.  You don't have as many answers to life's questions as we do."

"Mom told me that when I get older I'll have more questions."

"She's right.  You know how the more you learn about math, the more you realize there is to learn?  Life works the same way. The more answers you have, the more questions you ask."

"Grown-ups don't have all the answers either, do they?"

"No," said Richard sadly.  "But we never stop trying to find them."

“It’s hard to not use my powers,” she said.  “I don’t know how to make them stop.”

“You don’t have to stop using them.”

“But what about Mom?  She wants me to stop.”

“Not exactly,” he said.  “Think about it like this.  You can do something that the other people can’t.  What happens when people think you have something they don’t?”

“They get jealous.”

“Right.  And what’s different about what you say and what you think?”

“Sometimes you think things that you wouldn’t ever say,” she said after a moment.  “Things you don’t really mean.”

Richard nodded.  “And sometimes you think about secrets.  People would be scared of you because you can hear their thoughts.  You don’t have to stop using your power. Instead, try not to talk about the things you learn from your power.”

“So if I don’t talk about it, it will be like it’s not happening?”

“That’s the way it will look to your mother.”

"Why is Mom staying at work so late?" Sai’ah asked, flopping down next to him.

"I think you already know that, Sai'ah," said Richard, choosing to let her figure it out herself.  It would make her feel less like the student, and lead her to see him more as a wise friend than a teacher.

"I know she's still really sad that Dad's gone, but why is she going to work and never coming home?  She's doing  _ exactly _ what Dad did before he died.   _ She's _ doing what she always told  _ him _ she wanted him to  _ stop _ doing."

"She doesn't see it that way, Sai’ah.  She's not staying late because she wants to be at work."

"It's because she doesn't want to come home?  Doesn’t she want to see me?"

He put his hand on her shoulder.  "If she comes home, what will be the first thing she remembers?"

"That Dad's not here."  Understanding dawned on Sai'ah's face.  "I thought she was avoiding  _ me _ because she didn't want to talk to me about Dad or my powers.  But she really just doesn't want to remember that she'll never see Dad again."

Richard nodded slowly.  "I told you you knew the reason.  Sometimes, the only way to realize you know something is to think about it out loud."

"You're smart."

"You're probably a lot smarter than me.  I'm just older than you."

"How did he die?" she asked suddenly.  "I know he died fighting, and with 'an impressive amount of dead enemies around him', but how did it happen?"  She made quotes with her fingers when she said 'an impressive amount of dead enemies around him'.

"His last words were 'this is for my family'," Richard told her, bending the truth only a little.  "He fought to make a better, safer world for you. And he succeeded."

"I wish he was still here," she said.

"Me too, kiddo.  He was a good man.  But you'll see him again."

"How do you know?" she asked.  "Tenno have Oro, but he didn't.  Neither do I."

"A Tenno's Oro resides in his or her Barrow after death.  Your father's spirit went somewhere else. You'll see him again when your spirit joins him there."

"Where did it go?"

"I don't know," said Richard truthfully.  "Wherever it is, I can't go there. My Oro will stay in our Clan's Barrow."

“Then how do you know it exists?”

“Sai'ah, do you have a spirit?"

"Yes," she said instantly.  "Everyone does."

"How do you know?"

"Because I can think and feel and love."

"Can your spirit stop being real?" 

She thought about this for a moment.  "No."

"Can your  _ father's _ spirit stop being real?"

"No."

"If your father's spirit isn't in his body anymore, where did it go?"

"Somewhere else."

"Exactly."

"How do you stop feeling sad about people who died?"

"You don't."

"Then how can you not be sad all the time?"

"You find things to be happy about, and then you just don't stop doing them or thinking about them," Richard told her.  "Eventually the pain will get easier to handle. Like when you go in swimming, and the water feels cold when you first put your feet in, but then you get used to it.  Loss never really goes away. It just hurts less the more time passes."

"So I just have to wait?" she asked.

"Yeah.  But don't forget the other part.  Do fun stuff. Make friends and have fun together."

"Okay."  She stood up and did a cartwheel.  "Thanks, ‘Mama Trinity’."

He smiled.  "You're very welcome, little one."

"That's what Ryoko always calls me," Sai'ah said as he stood up.

"That's what he calls all the young people he cares about."

"How many kids does he care about?"

"One."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have (hopefully polite) questions? Have (hopefully relevant) comments? Hell, have any (hopefully at least halfway to quasi-relevant) memes? Drop me a line at sarcasticmathematician @ gmail.com (email address broken to hopefully reduce the amount of crawler-generated flotsam that appears in my inbox) and I'll (maybe) reply in a reasonable* amount of time.
> 
> *the word "reasonable" is hereby defined as "whenever the hell I get around to it, schedule permitting" (what can I say, I'm a busy dude!)


	8. Matches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fight scenes are difficult to write, but thankfully I didn't have to describe this one blow-by-blow (though that will happen later).  
> This is mostly a world-building/character development Arc, even though it's basically just one long fight scene.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Candles: Matches  
> In which The Battle of the Twin Portals occurs, a young woman discovers her heritage, two young people make a potentially fatal mistake, and I finally bust out the **bold** outside of chapter headings (which opens up some new possibilities for written vocal inflection).

**Matches - Chapter 1**

_Sometimes_ , thought Richard as he sprinted over the last hill, _I wish I could just get some peace and quiet_.  Of course, he'd been here on Phenix for almost five weeks now.  The probability of things continuing to be peaceful was, to borrow a phrase from the Perrin Sequence, 'converging on never'.

In this particular case, all hell had decided to break loose in rather spectacular fashion.

"Doctor?” called Alaina as he ran past her through the center of town.  "What's going on?"

"Bad things!" he yelled back without stopping.  Reaching the center of town, he turned down a particular blind alley and called his ship.  "Ordis, I need bombs. _Lots_ of bombs."

"Operator, are you sure?"

" _Bad things_ are happening, and they need Trinity.  And _bombs_."

"Will my assistance be helpful in combat?"

"I don't think there's anything you can do," Richard told him truthfully.  "There's an Orokin portal that leads directly from here to not-so-friendly things."

"I see.  The explosives are in digital storage," Ordis told him.  "As are several boxes of ammunition."

"Thank you, Ordis.  I'll let you know if there's anything else you can do."  Richard ran full tilt into the Clan’s ground Dojo. The security system disengaged when it recognized him, and the automated systems immediately noticed his increased heart rate and speed of travel, which was now a dead sprint.  Simon had done well: the emergency comms were immediately brought online.

“Richard?” came Simon’s voice over the loudspeaker.  “What’s going on over there?”

“All hell’s broken loose, in a _big_ way.”

“ _ **Y**_ ** _eah_ **, we know.  We’re mobilizing everyone and sending them at our side of the portal.”

“ _Your_ side?”

“Earth.  The Grineer found a portal to a derelict with a second portal room leading to a crashed ship on Phenix.  They’ve been sending troops through for close to two hours now.”

“Yeah, _that_ part we know already.  This place is in a panic.  Everyone and their brother is suiting up for battle.  I’m going in to make sure we don’t lose anyone.”

“Richard, you’re going to lose people today.  There’s no stopping that.”

“There may not be, but I’ll be damned if they go down without a fighting chance to get up again.”  Richard had his bio-suit on now, and was running around digitizing every grenade he could find.

A few minutes later, he had his Trinity Prime on, two Sancti Tigrises on his back, a Lex Prime on each hip, a pair of Ninkondi across his shoulders, and a Galatine in his hand.  Deciding that the sword would only slow him down, he went to digitize it, but the device read ‘STORAGE FULL’. For the first time since he had built his first Trinity, Richard would be leaving the health restores behind.

By the time he got to the portal, the others, mostly Archons, had already assembled.  He unholstered a Tigris and looked at the people who had gathered to defend this beautiful place.  “Let’s go rain on the Queens’ parade.”

“Indeed,” said the Archon who appeared to be in charge.  “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced. I’m Jas.”

“Richard Erich.”  He turned to the assembled Archons.  “I’m going to warn you, right now,” he began, “that expectations of what a _normal_ Trinity pilot would do _will_ cause my actions to scare you.  You must forget these notions and let go of your fear.  Just because I’m not standing behind you, being ‘the support’, does not mean I don’t know what I’m doing.”  He lit the sigil on his chest, letting the emblazoned Humanity symbol glow at full brightness. “Loka doesn’t just _give_ these away, you know.”

“We’ve all heard of you, Asteroid Smasher,” said one of the people in the back.  “The Heretic Healer who shocked the system with his unorthodox use of the most passive Warframe.”

“I took the frame that everyone viewed as necessary but no one wanted to pilot, because of the implied need to stand in the background and be everyone’s energy slave, and made her into the Grineer’s most feared symbol of a Tenno’s power, yes,” said Richard, “but that is not my job today.  I am here to keep you alive first and fight second. If I must play the role of support to ensure you make it home, then I will. If we can win the day without my needing to stand behind you, then all the better for it. Now, let’s get down to business.”

\- -

They entered the portal only to run directly into a wave of Grineer that was noticeably larger than the last few to emerge from the portal.  They must have been massing for an attack, but their numbers were nowhere near enough to be a match for twelve Archons in one room.

“Let’s keep moving,” said Richard.  “We should get to the central location in the Terminus and hold there.”

“You know the layout of this ship?” asked Jas.

“Every ship is different,” Richard told him, “but some things are always the same.”  He reloaded his shotgun and led the rest of the party into the hallway.

“Not much of a layout to have to know,” Jas commented.  He was right: there were no winding hallways or mazes of rooms on this ship.  Instead, there was a single, wide hallway that led to another room about 500 meters away.  The door to that room stood open, and Grineer were pouring through. In the back of that room, Richard could see another portal.

“Well, it looks like we know where we’re making our stand, boys,” Richard told them.  “Weapons free.”

The Grineer had stopped about halfway down the hall, staring at the Archons.  A few soldiers turned the safety on their rifles off, but most were just standing there.

The silence continued until Richard stepped out from behind Jas with a Sancti Tigris slung over his shoulder.  “Skoom!” he yelled, and the Grineer reacted in predictable a fashion, as they always had when he did something like this.  He didn’t know whether it was because of the Warframe he was wearing or the insult he used, but they always attacked him.

For the next few minutes the corridor became a haze of bullets.  Richard kept up a steady stream of EV pulses, and as a result his shields never dipped below capacity.

When there was a slight lull in the amount of Grineer who were coming out of the portal, Richard and Jas dropped boxes of ammo and the group reloaded.

“Advance to the center of the hallway,” Jas ordered.  “One person go through each of the doors and see if there are any Grineer in those sections.  We’ll hold position at that point.”

“Don’t go further than one room past the door,” Richard added, and when Jas looked at him questioningly, he continued.  “Orokin vessels never have more than two portals. Finding a ship with two is limited to colony transporters and midway points to far-reach outposts, like this one.  The energy drain from two portals is part of the reason these ships didn’t survive. Any Grineer in those directions have to come back here if they want to get out.”

The group advanced to the point Jas had indicated, and two Archons set up emplacements and heavy partitions for use as cover.  From behind them, they heard a shout, and what looked to be about a hundred fifty or so soldiers came running through Phenix’s portal.  Leading the charge was Lydia, wearing the same army regular armor the rest of them were.

“Good to see you here,” said Jas as they formed ranks.  “We’re holding this position until-” PING. A bullet bounced off his helmet.  The Archon turned around and opened fire with his railgun, and the shooting from the other end stopped.  “Until we either win the day or are forced to fall back to the portal room. The Grineer only have numbers on their side, and our firepower is fully capable of keeping them at bay for quite a while.  Do not advance beyond the barrier.”

“Unless you’re _him_ ,” Lydia said, pointing to Richard.  While Jas had been speaking Richard had decided he was going to rig a few traps for the Grineer.  Never one to miss a beat, he had practiced holding Well of Life and EV on the same target simultaneously for a long time, creating what Damien called a Stasis Well.  Now that he was Manifesting, he could do the same on multiple targets. Carefully unscrewing the ammo pods from a few Grakatas left by fallen Grineer, he screwed grenades in their place.  Laying a Stasis Well on each grenade, he continued until he’d used about half of his grenades, then strolled lazily back towards the barrier.

“Richard, what are you doing?” Jas asked.

“You’ll see,” he replied with a smirk that was easily visible due to the fact that he hadn’t bothered to raise his helmet yet.

“Not the Exploding Grakata,” Lydia said with a groan.

“The _what_?” asked one of the other soldiers.

“The simplest gag I’ve ever come up with,” explained Richard.  “See, the Grineer don’t give a flying _frag_ about their fallen comrades.  So they just step over them as if they aren’t there.  What’s the one problem with that, tactically speaking?”

“They’re leaving all the extra ammo where it is.  They aren’t taking any with them.”

“Exactly.  And so if we make grenades that look like the ammo pods on Grakata rifles and replace some of them before the Grineer get here?”

“You’ve got a minefield,” said Jas.  “That’s clever.”

“It would only be clever if the Grineer were intelligent,” said Richard.  “By the time they catch on, they’re all dead. The same trick can work as many times as I care to set it up.”

“That’s true,” said one of the Archons with a laugh.

“That being said,” said Richard, “it’s GLORIOUSLY effective.”  To illustrate this point, he blew the first five feet of the next wave into the faces of the soldiers behind them.  “They have NO IDEA what happened, so all we have to do is wait for them to come a little farther, annnd…” BOOM. “Now we start shooting them and when they get another five feet I blow another row.”

“I don’t understand how you’re making the grenades blow without fire,” said one of the soldiers as they began firing at the Grineer.

“That’s a Stasis Well,” Richard explained.  “I’m holding the grenades in stasis with my Warframe, since I have to pull the pins out to attach them to the rifles.  When I blow them, all I’m really doing is removing the mending part of the stasis. I don’t stop the other half. They explode, and the fire is contained by the Well.  Meanwhile, the shockwave, which the Well can’t hold, goes through and acts like a sonic blast from a Banshee. It blows them apart, and to the guys behind them, it looks like they’ve been hit by a Sonicor.”

“So even if they did catch on to what was going on, they’d second-guess themselves.”

“This trick actually works on Corpus, provided they’re expecting a pile of dead Grineer.”

“Interesting.  How’s it do on Infested?”

“Are you kidding?  If it was Infested, I’d just _throw the grenade_.”

“I didn’t think about that.”

“Yeah, with the Infested you don’t tend to make very complicated plans.  To them, things are overly simplified. That makes dealing with them overly simplified.”

“I guess s-urk!” The Archon had taken a bullet to the throat mid-sentence.

“Oh, no, you’re not gonna die on me,” said Richard as he cast Blessing.  “You’re fine,” he said as the soldier continued to clutch at his now fully-healed throat.  “All better. Keep shooting.”

It was at that moment that Richard’s comms crackled.

 

**Matches - Chapter 2**

“Phenix, come in,” came Darrin’s voice.

“Richard here,” he said.

“Where are you?”

“I’m in the ship.  We’ve got Grineer up the you-know-what in here, but we’ve got them contained in their portal room.”

“Our end looks like hell,” said Darrin.  “We dug in around the portal but they broke our left flank about three hours ago.  We’re surrounded out here, and we can’t stop them getting in anymore.”

“That’s okay, Darrin,” Richard told him.  “I’ve got the Exploding Grakatas going in here, and between them and the Archons, the Grineer are making it about ten feet into the hallway before they die.”

“That’s a relief.  How many are with you?”

“We’ve got me, 34 Archons, and 243 regulars,” Richard said with a quick glance at his HUD.  “We’ll have more soon,” he added as he heard heavy footfalls from behind him. “Archons, by the sound of it.”

“That’ll be the rest of them,” said Jas.  “About a hundred.”

“Jas says it’s about a hundred more Archons,” Richard repeated into the comms.  “Do you need us to try and push through the portal and join up with you?” Jas looked over at Richard, ready to signal his troops if needed.

“Negative,” said Darrin, and Richard shook his head so Jas could return to firing at the Grineer.  “We’re fine where we are, but we can’t retake the portal.”

“How many healers do you have out there?”

“Three Trinities, five Oberons, and seven Equinoxes, though one’s in Day Form.”

“How many wounded?”

“No, Richard, you have to stay there.  We have air support coming in two minutes.  After it gets here we’ll try to push through the portal.”

“Okay.  We’ll hold here for now,” Richard said.  “Let us know if there’s anything you need.”

“A box of donuts would be nice,” said Darrin.

“You got it, boss,” said Richard as another wave of Grineer came rushing through the portal.  “You know, I am really getting _tired_ of this monotony,” he commented to himself as once again the Grineer walked directly into death by a thousand bullets.  He decided to go exploring. Turning and walking through the left-hand door, Richard found himself looking at a party of Grineer who were returning.  BLAM. Richard lazily walked over to the box they had been carrying and opened it. “Oh, **_hell-_ ** _ohh_ ,” he said to the pile of Burston Primes.  “I think I’ll take these, yes, I do.” Replacing his shotgun in its holster, he picked up one of the rifles and racked a clip.  Sticking his head through the door the Grineer had emerged from, Richard found a large quantity of opened boxes, but no Grineer.  They must have been a small scouting party. Shrugging, he walked back through the door into the corridor to find the Grineer had started to employ a small modicum of strategy.  The units with guns were no longer emerging from the portal room.

“That looks shiny,” said Lydia as he crouched next to her and a small group of soldiers.

“There’s a whole box,” he told her.  “Grab one.” She motioned to the group, pointed at his gun, then pointed at the door.  He nodded, and the little group went through the door.

Richard had run out of Exploding Grakatas by the time Lydia and her group came back through the door.  “Sasha found a thing,” Lydia said breathlessly, jabbing a thumb over her shoulder. “Go.”

Richard turned to see a soldier lagging behind the group, staring at her right hand.  A glowing sigil depicting an Orokin symbol for leadership had appeared there. Richard lobbed a volley of grenades at the portal before going through the door to investigate.  “I don’t know what it is,” said the young woman who Lydia had identified as Sasha, sounding nervous. “This has never happened before.”

“I know what that is,” said Richard.  “Or at least, I know what it _means_.  Come.”  He led her into another room and blasted a hole in the wall next to a fountain with his shotgun.  A hidden stairwell came into view, and he led her up it.

“How did you know this was here?” she asked as they ran.

“Every ship has one.  This is the library. If this ship recognizes you as a Pilot, then you should be able to access the vault.”  They reached the top of the stairs, and Richard punched a few buttons. “The codes are the same on every ship,” he explained.  “Usually we have to break in and just hope we don’t destroy the information.”

“What do I do?”

“I don’t know, but there’s a panel over there with a handprint on it.”  Richard moved to the computer and plugged a datamass into it. “Hold, Lotus,” he said before she could start breaking in.  “We may have a better way.”

Sasha hadn’t had any trouble finding the panel since it had lit up when she approached it.  She placed her palm on the sensor and it beeped. “What do I do now?” she asked.

“Try telling it to open,” Richard guessed with a shrug.

“Uh, okay.  Orokin, um… thing.  Open up,” she said timidly.  Immediately the lights on the terminal came on and the datamass beeped.

“Tenno,” said the Lotus, and Richard threw his comms on speaker.  “I’m receiving the entire core’s data. Most of it is corrupted. I am reading the presence of two Orokin Destroyer-class vessels on board this carrier.”

“Where?” Richard asked.

“I have marked the location on your map.  At your average sprint speed it will take you two minutes to get there.”

“That’s convenient,” said Sasha.  “Well, if I turned this thing on, maybe I can get those things running, too.”

“Wouldn’t that be something,” said Richard.  “We could use them to get the supplies off this ship before they blow the portals.”

“Before they _what_?”

“What’s your name, soldier?” he asked as they ran.

“Sasha,” she said, confirming what he already knew.  He’d asked for her sake, not his.

“Well, Sasha, I am Richard of Clan Miraalan.  And if the Grineer can’t be contained, they’re gonna blow at least the Earth-side portal.”

“So the Grineer can’t send more troops through.”

“Exactly.  If we can get away with retreating through the portal on our side, we will.  But something tells me things aren’t gonna go that well.” They had reached the hangar, a room that on every other ship Richard had been on was empty.  This time, three ships roughly twenty times the size of his Liset stood in a row. One of them was clearly missing a few vital parts: half of the fuselage was missing.  Richard cleared the handful of Grineer from the room with a burst from the rifle, and they set to work.

Ten minutes later, Sasha started the drives on one of the ships.  She immediately sprinted for the other one and repeated whatever process she’d done on the first one, but much faster: the engines came online in less than a minute.  “It’s like they’re teaching me how to use them,” she said as she jumped down from the second one.

“Wait,” came Simon’s voice over the comms, which were still on speaker.  “Heavy void interference, I’m unable to compensate… EVERYONE GET CLEAR!”  There was a crumbling noise, and a wave of foreign energy surged into and out of his Warframe’s systems.

“Jas, WAIT!” said a voice on the comms.

“No,” Richard said slowly as he realized what must have happened.  “Ryoko, you _fool_.  You **_can’t_** _have_.”

“What happened?” Sasha almost shrieked, clearly in a panic.  “What’s wrong?”

“He just set off a Void Cascade Bomb,” said Richard, tossing the Burston Prime aside and drawing both shotguns.  Turning, he blasted a hole through the three meters of wall, revealing the main corridor. “He threw the portal into the Void to stop the Grineer getting through, but that means he pulled _himself_ in as well.”

“No…” she said, taking off at a dead sprint for the portal.

“You can’t go in there, it'll kill you!” Richard called after her, but she ignored him and kept running.

She ran straight into the portal, which was now completely submerged in the Void.

“Why do they never _listen_?” he asked himself.

 

**Matches - Chapter 3**

The battle was pretty much over by that point.  The Archons scoured the ship, taking out a few Grineer stragglers, and they loaded the boxes of weapons and supplies onto the ships Sasha had activated.  They had just set the charges when Jas came stumbling out of the portal room, his Archon armor thoroughly soaked in Void energy. “Back!” yelled Richard. He immediately began siphoning the energy off the Knight-Archon’s armor with his Warframe.  The energy wasn't harmless to Tenno, but it wouldn't have any long-lasting effects on Richard. Jas, on the other hand, would need immediate medical attention and would probably be under constant medical watch for at least a couple of months, and that’s IF he didn’t die.  And that was a REALLY BIG ‘if’.

Just as Richard had removed the last of the Void energy from Jas' armor, two more figures emerged from the Void-steeped portal.  "Medical override, Blessing Well for Void exposure," Richard said, and immediately his Warframe's systems shifted into the second set of circuits, allowing him to keep a continuous restorative field around multiple targets without needing a Manifest.  He immediately cast the field around Ryoko and Sasha, and motioned for Jas to help him carry the pair, who were now in stasis.

They reached the ships just as the first charges detonated.  Richard put Ryoko in a cryopod that was conveniently located in the ship he had boarded and released Sasha from stasis.  "Get us out of here," he told her, and she immediately began pushing buttons on the control console.

The ships flew through the portal to Phenix and raced through the tunnels.  Richard directed Sasha to set them down on the roof of the Clan's ground Dojo, and he, Sasha, and Jas pushed Ryoko’s cryopod down the hall toward the infirmary.  "Ordis, raise the main Dojo on comms. Ryoko is in cryo after sustaining near-fatal injuries, and two residents of Phenix require immediate medical attention for Void Exposure.  Katherine needs to be here 'five minutes ago', those exact words." He pushed the cryopod into the small infirmary and gestured to two stasis chambers. "You two in there." Richard had no idea what was going to happen to them, but he knew that their best chance at survival was Katherine.

\- -

Even Katherine was out of her depth.  "I don't know what this will do to them.  I don't know how they survived this much exposure."

"I siphoned off as much energy as I could when Jas came out, and Sasha was recognized as a Pilot by the ship."

"That doesn't tell us much, though."  Katherine looked with concern at Jas, who had been exposed to more Void energy due to his Archon armor having a much greater surface area than Sasha's normal-sized human body.  "I hope they end up being okay."

"You and me both," said Richard.  "Thank you, Katherine." He left the room.  There wasn’t anything he could do for them, so while Katherine did her job, he would do his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have (hopefully polite) questions? Have (hopefully relevant) comments? Hell, have any (hopefully at least halfway to quasi-relevant) memes? Drop me a line at sarcasticmathematician @ gmail.com (email address broken to hopefully reduce the amount of crawler-generated flotsam that appears in my inbox) and I'll (maybe) reply in a reasonable* amount of time.
> 
> *the word "reasonable" is hereby defined as "whenever the hell I get around to it, schedule permitting" (what can I say, I'm a busy dude!)


	9. Slippery Slope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, we get to the good stuff. This was actually the second Arc I finished (the first was, appropriately, the first Arc, Ashes) - it took me a while to figure out exactly where to put it in the timeline (given that The Second Dream is an extremely important event, it took me a while to place it), but after a few months of work this is where it ended up. Project Sinkhole truly is a magnificent story arc, if I do say so myself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sinkhole: Slippery Slope  
> In which The Second Dream occurs, Project Sinkhole finally takes shape, and Richard learns that sometimes, Corpus _do_ actually care about more than just profit.

**Slippery Slope - Chapter 1**

The Grineer weren't quite as dumb as they were made out to be.  True, compared to the Tenno they weren't all that smart. But, Richard realized as he detonated another Exploding Grakata, the only reason the Grineer never seemed to learn is because the only ones that survived long enough to make the connection were killed soon afterward.  It wasn't that they never learned, it was that the only ones who learned did so while fighting the Tenno. And the Tenno always killed them. Take the Exploding Grakata, for example. By the time the Grineer learned to look down and avoid the grenades, Richard had reached his sniper's perch above them.  Actually, it really only took about three groups of them to die before they made the connection. The rest of them never had time to get the word out to the others about this discovery because right about then was usually the part where Richard started swinging his Galatine.

Given that the Corpus the Tenno generally fought were mostly proxies and expendable crewmen, tricks like this would only work once.  Their computerized brains would tell each other about the trap as soon as they figured out how it worked. Fortunately, the Tenno had a different solution for fighting the Corpus.  Richard's strategy was very simple: Sancti Castanas and stealth. For larger groups, Sancti Tigris loaded up on magnetic damage tended to get the job done just fine. If neither of those was big enough, Richard was a competent Mag Prime pilot, and he had the augment for Crush.  If even Mag Prime wasn't enough firepower, Richard had a whole Clan who would be more than willing to kill a few Corpus, so long as there was loot in it.

Thinking about that distracted him, and one of the Grineer actually managed to hit him with a rocket.   _ And that's  _ **_another_ ** _ thing! _ he thought as the impact knocked him off his perch.   _ Who the hell shoots  _ missiles _ inside a spaceship? _

No matter.  Richard aimed a Teleport at the missile-carrying Grineer, and his Ash Prime's auto-targeting Blade Storm took care of the rest.

Richard liked Ash Prime.  He was exceptionally useful for spy missions against the Grineer, because he didn't even have to make himself invisible to be stealthy.  Richard was still extremely partial to Zephyr for Corpus spy, and that was mostly because of the lasers. Zephyr could fly right past them.  Loki was also helpful, but the Corpus liked to build tall towers around their computers. Zephyr could skip all the lasers guarding it in one jump, whereas Ash, Limbo, or Loki would have to go the long way around.

His Warframe finished killing all the Grineer in the room, and Richard turned to the door to the vault.  Opening it was a cinch: the Grineer weren't exactly technological giants. Once inside, he stopped dead. This particular installation had managed to capture a Riot Moa.  And they had decided that chains - literal, linked-steel chains - were enough to contain it. And to top it all off, they had set it directly in front of the data vault. For once Richard was glad he wasn't wearing Trinity when something unexpected happened on a mission.

Smoke Bomb, hack, exit.  No alarms, and the Bursa didn't notice him.  Good ol' Ash Prime. But what the hell was a Bursa doing in Grineer hands, and more importantly, why wasn't it killing everything it saw?  It was still activated and its weapons hadn't been removed. Richard was confused. But no matter. He'd let some of his fellow Tenno worry about that.  He reached the other members of his party, a Loki and a Limbo, and told them about the Bursa as they walked to extraction.

"You sure it wasn't a Lynx?" asked the Limbo.  Richard lit his mastery sigil in response. "Oh.  Yeah, you know the difference."

"Hmm," said the Loki.  "That's weird. I'll let my Clan know, and maybe we'll figure out what's going on before it backfires on the Grineer."

"I'm content to just let it backfire," said Richard.  "Less work for us."

"Maybe.  See you around."  The three parted ways, and Richard headed back for the Dojo.

\- -

He didn't make it.

"Tenno, we have a problem."

"What's wrong, Lotus?"

"The Sentient Hunhow is using the Stalker to find the Reservoir.  You must stop him."

"How can I do that?"

"We need to know what the Grineer know about Hunhow.  Go to Umbriel."

Richard went to Umbriel and hacked the vaults, one of which was corrupted.  The Lotus paused. "This is a message. A message... for me. I need a moment to contact this person.  I do not trust them, but we are out of options. Get to extraction." She cut the connection.

Now thoroughly confused, Richard went to extraction.  There was a node marked on navigation, so Richard went.

"Hehe, hello, Tenno," said a familiar voice.

"Oh, WHAT THE DAMN H-"

"Peace," said the Lotus.  "He is here to help. The Sentient are a greater threat."

"How do I know you'll keep up your end of the bargain, Lotus?" asked Alad V.

"Enough," said Richard before the Lotus could respond.  "I need to move quickly. Where do I go?"

He moved through the cavern quickly until he reached a tunnel blocked by a rockslide, paused to blow up the rocks, then continued.  He eventually found some artifact or another, and the Lotus wanted him to touch it. So he did.

Immediately all hell broke loose, but for once that didn't mean a ton of enemies to fight.  He did a lot of running for a while. Got to a Tower in the Void, hacked a nav panel, shut off some things he didn't understand, and found a torsion beam.  After going through the portal, he destroyed some more things, then ran for extraction.

Unfortunately, the Stalker made it to the Moon first.  Yes, the Moon. Earth’s Moon. The one that had just disappeared one day a long time ago.  Apparently it still existed. Which was cool, but with what was going on at present there wasn’t any time to be hyped.  Richard raced through passages toward the Reservoir while others went after something that could bring the Moon out of the Void before the Stalker's Cascade device destroyed it.  The Lotus was frantic now. "35 mark 72, shoot and run," she told him. Richard bullet jumped in that direction, blind-firing his Sancti Tigris in front of him as he did so. He crashed head-first through a grate and into a maintenance tunnel.  Rolling as he landed, he continued running through the shortcut. Suddenly his HUD came ablaze with vital signs from other Tenno. "Medical override, HUD to setting 3 dash 5," he told his Warframe. His display obliged, showing only the four Tenno whose vitals were currently weakest.  Richard shot another grate in front of him and peered into the room below.

The Stalker wasn't there, but there were Infested Shades everywhere.  Richard saw two Saryns in the group of about fifteen Tenno take care of things, and kept a steady stream of Blessings and EVs going.  There wasn't a Trinity in the group below him, so the first EV came as a bit of a shock. "Don't look for me," he ordered over the comms.  "Fight."

The Oberon immediately put Hallowed Ground underneath the Saryns, and the rest of the Tenno began taking potshots with powers and weapons at strays.  Richard's power range was excellent, and soon everyone had large numbers of overshields. Suddenly the room shook, a loud boom echoing through the building, and the shades disappeared as the floor tilted.  "Out!" yelled the Oberon. "Get to extraction!"

Richard agreed.

 

**Slippery Slope - Chapter 2**

It was  _ beautiful _ .  Water poured down from an unseen source, and fancy-looking cryopods slowly rose out of the pool and spread like flower petals.  Then one of the pods opened and a humanoid figure came out on a chair. The chair commenced to unceremoniously dump them on the ground.  Ow... Wait, what?? Richard collapsed, and his vision went fuzzy. He blinked, looked up, and saw his Warframe. From the outside. Sudden clarity arrived in his mind: the person in the pod was him.

He needed to get back to his Warframe, and FAST.  Things that Richard had not seen in a very long time were appearing everywhere.  He crawled back to his Trinity Prime, touched her arm, and immediately he was looking out of his Warframe's eyes again.  He picked up his own limp body and began staggering for the door while the Sentients were regaining their orientation.

_ What the  _ hell _ is going on? _  His thoughts were jumbled, but that one kept coming back to him.  Richard shook his head, or rather his Warframe's head, and kept walking.  He could worry about that when there wasn't anyone shooting at him.

Speaking of which, there were a lot of people shooting at him.  Richard couldn't use any of his weapons right now: he had to carry himself using both hands.  But he had to fight back. Instinctively, he stretched out his hand toward the next Sentient, and felt a surge of power come out of his limp body.  The Sentient was ragdolled across the room, hit the wall with a satisfying SLAM, and promptly crumpled to the ground. “ **_Sweet_ ** .”

Richard could see extraction now, and he turned around to face the enemies as he slowly backed toward the door, firing bursts of whatever this new weapon or ability was for cover until he made it to his Liset.

\- -

Stalker was waiting for him, because where the hell else would he be.  Richard blasted the waves of Exalted Blade out of the air with his newfound power and forced the Stalker back until he reached the device the Lotus called the Somatic Link.  He filled it, and the resulting energy pulse knocked him so far backward he slammed into the wall and blacked out.

When he woke up, he was looking at the Lotus.  She was standing right in front of him.

\- -

The ensuing conversation was still incredibly confusing, and it had been more than a day.  Richard didn’t have time to think about it much, though. He, Ryoko, and Darrin were going to wake up the rest of Miraalan and explain what they had just found out, though how he was going to explain what he still didn’t understand was beyond him.   _ Don’t get me wrong _ , he thought,  _ I know  _ exactly _ what’s going on and what it means. _  What he  _ didn’t _ understand was how and why the Lotus had hidden this from them.

No time like the present, though, and presently he was explaining this fiasco to Vahlin.

Well, trying to.  He didn’t know what was going on, and Vahlin really didn’t need a whole lot of explanation once Richard took his Operator to the Somatic Link in his Liset and woke him up with his Ember Prime standing right in front of him next to Richard’s Operator.

The ensuing “WTF” moment lasted for about ten seconds.  Both Vahlin and Richard knew that this revelation wasn’t Richard’s fault, and Vahlin seemed a lot less worried about the potential consequences for the Lotus (though Richard didn’t voice his own concern, so he didn’t know for sure).

Either way, this was going to change things.  A lot.

 

**Slippery Slope - Chapter 3**

The Tenno may have been reeling from the recent revelation of their true nature, but their enemies were not slowing down.  Richard finally had a lead on Project Sinkhole, and he was going to chase it.

The Grineer didn’t just  _ find _ a Riot Moa.  The Corpus rarely if ever deployed them, so someone had to have been helping the Grineer.

The question was, who?  There weren’t many possible options.  The Grineer weren’t smart enough to grab a Riot Moa off Nef Anyo, and the Twin Queens had little use for one anyway.

Nef Anyo wouldn’t help the Grineer get ahold of one of his machines, and the Corpus Board wasn’t about to just hand the Grineer anything, even if they didn’t like Nef Anyo all that much.

The Infested?  Well, that was kind of a no-brainer.  Literally. The hive-mind wasn’t capable of complex thought.

So, who was left?  Richard could only think of one group, but finding them was gonna be a problem.  Deri Spectra was dead, and with him was Richard’s best chance of finding them.

Best place to start was where Richard had first met Spectra, so off to Thex 58 it was.  This unassuming asteroid was home to pretty much nothing, hence the reason it was unassuming.

\- -

Just as he expected, Richard found nothing there.  Disappointed, he returned to the Dojo.

Or tried to.  Ordis redirected his destination to meet up with Darrin, Ryoko, and Tak, who were about to drop into an Orokin tower in the Void.

Two Frosts, a Nekros, and Trinity stayed in the Tower for nearly two hours before deciding they’d spent enough time there.

On the way out, Richard asked his Cephalon why he’d redirected the destination.

“You seemed… tense, Operator.   I felt you could use the distraction.  Also, credits.  _ Shiny _ credits.”

Ordis had been glitching far less frequently after the whole Reservoir debacle than he had previously, and Richard was glad for it.  His Ship Cephalon had become increasingly intuitive, and Richard suspected that this was because they had spent a great deal of time together before the Second Dream began, and now that certain “mental” blocks were removed, Ordis was able to access those “memories”.

There he went, putting those words in mental quotes again.  Ordis was a consciousness like any other, after all. Richard didn’t know why he did that.

"Operator," said Ordis, "I am detecting activity on an unusual frequency."

This was nothing new.  "Nothing to worry about, Ordis."

"'The Limbo Frequency.'"

Now he had Richard's attention.  "I thought the Limbo Frequency was too small for you to pick up without assistance?"

"It is.  The words 'The Limbo Frequency' are being continuously repeated on an old Corpus comm channel."

"It would appear we need to scan the Limbo Frequency again.  Show me extraction." This Orokin Tower would still be in the Void later, and Richard finally had something to do.

 

**Slippery Slope - Chapter 4**

"A set of coordinates are being repeated on a loop."

"Finally, we’ve got something.  We've tried four different receiving stations."

“The coordinates are not being broadcasted on the Limbo Frequency.”

“Then how did we pick them up?”

“They are being broadcasted on a range of frequencies that includes the Limbo Frequency.”

“Interesting.  Where do they lead?”

“I am unable to determine the order the coordinates belong in."

"Well, pinpoint all possible locations based on the coordinates, and speculate."

This took Ordis a few moments.  "Locations have been marked on Navigation."

Time to go to work.  "Set course for whichever is closest."

"Already done."

The closest point happened to be Earth.  Specifically, a heavily forested glade with pieces of what had once been a Liset strewn throughout a small clearing...

"Ordis?" Richard asked.  "Why are we here?"

"This abandoned Grineer facility is at the specified coordinates."

"Yeah, no duh.  Oh, wait, you weren't here..."

"Operator?" said Ordis.  "You've been here before?"

"This is the place where I woke from the Second Dream.  Where the Lotus first spoke to me. Why am I back here?"

"Why indeed," said a very familiar voice.

Richard spun, gun in hand.  "You're dead!"

"My death was required before the coordinates could be sent.  So if you're here, then I must be, yes." Deri Spectra's holographic face smiled.  "It also means that Project Sinkhole nears completion. You'll be standing at the edge of the pit soon enough."

"What are you-" Richard started to say, but the hologram continued as though he wasn't there.

"I've never been to this place, but he said it would strike a chord with you.  He also said it was good to keep you distracted. He was right. You're too far away now to stop things."  The hologram paused, then flickered. Spectra was now wearing a different set of clothes. "Tenno, you should listen more carefully.  Your defeat is close at hand." The hologram sputtered, then went out.

"What is- wait a minute.  Ordis, record the hologram the next time it plays."

"Operator, how will you find the projector?"

"I don't have to," said Richard.  He turned to look directly at where to hologram had been and repeated the question that had brought it to life.  "Why am I back here?"

"Why indeed," said the hologram as it shimmered back into existence.  "My death was required before the coordinates could be sent. So if you're here, then I must be, yes."  The words were playing again, exactly as before, but now Richard was paying attention to the hologram’s face.  The hologram wasn't forming the words with its mouth. It was saying something else.

"Ordis, when it's done playing, delete the audio and analyze the recording.  I want to know what he's really saying this time." He climbed back to the top of the glade, and his Liset returned to the Orbiter.

Ten minutes later, Ordis was ready.  "Operator, I have analyzed the speech patterns of the hologram.  It appears he was trying to relay a secret message."

That much had been obvious, but Richard didn't mind Ordis stating the obvious as long as he could get answers.  "What did he say?"

"'Tenno, listen.  He knows you're coming.  He's set a trap for you. You won't survive...  Please, you have to save them. Save the children.'  Operator, it would appear Spectra's loyalty to his employer was not entirely unwavering."

"I guess not.  Where are the other sets of coordinates?"

"One is on Mars, the other is near Pluto."

"Mars first."

The coordinates led them to a Corpus installation that appeared to be entirely unmanned: there were a lot of proxies, but no crewmen.

"Operator, I am detecting no anomalies in the area."

"Maybe there's nothing special about these coordinates.  I'll have a look around, just to be sure." Richard snuck down to the back door, opened it, stepped inside the building, and froze.

The room was completely empty.

"Ordis, there's nothing here!"

"Not quite," said the hologram that appeared behind him.

"Recording," said Ordis.

“Yes, I’m dead.  Surprised? Don’t bother looking for the hologram projector, either, you won’t find it.”

Richard immediately began searching for it.

The hologram continued.  “Project Sinkhole is nearing its final stages, Tenno.  You will not be able to stop what’s coming. You’re too far away.”  The hologram flickered, and Spectra was again wearing different clothes.  “Tenno, LISTEN.” The hologram faded just as Richard spotted a piece of the ceiling that looked different from every other Corpus ceiling panel he’d ever seen.  The metal wasn’t a dull bluish gray: it was shiny, silver, and extremely metallic-looking.

Now Richard knew something was up.  The hologram had specifically told him not to look for something that hadn’t even been hidden.  Spectra was trying to tell him something.

“I have analyzed the recording,” said Ordis.  “The message is quite different this time.”

“What is he saying?”

“‘Tenno, you must not go to Pluto without both projectors.  Save the children.’ He repeats that message twice.”

“What if I’d gone there first?  And what would happen if I went without them?” Richard wondered aloud.

“You would be dead,” the hologram said, flickering to life again.  “Tenno, you must hurry. There is very little time, and if you’re late, he will know something is wrong.”  Spectra vanished again.

“Multiple key phrases…  Ordis, can we afford to make two Folds in rapid succession?”

“Given the short distance between Earth and Mars, I believe we can.”

“Good.  Let’s go.”

 

**Slippery Slope - Chapter 5**

It didn’t take him long to find the first projector once he started actively looking for it, since the second projector started beeping when he got close to it.  “Huh,” said Richard. “Was  _ not _ expecting it to have a proximity detector built in.”

“Operator,” asked Ordis, “how did you know that repeating the phrase ‘why am I back here’ would trigger the projector?”

Richard smiled.  Ordis was becoming much more inquisitive as of late.  His Cephalon had regained most of his old functions, one of which was a natural curiosity about things that directly affected his Operator.  Not quite as full-blown as Suda’s curiosity, but still a positive trait for an AI. “Well, I knew the projector had been triggered by something.  And it wasn’t motion-sensitive or Tenno-sensitive, or it would have gone off when I first got here. That left sound, and the last thing I said before it turned on was ‘why am I here’.”

“I see,” Ordis said after a short pause.  “I have set course for Pluto.”

“Excellent.  Let’s go find out what’s going on here.”

\- -

The coordinates ‘near Pluto’ turned out to be a stray asteroid that had somehow managed to settle into a lazy orbit centered on both Pluto and Charon.

There were buildings on it, so Richard started poking around.

The first one he stuck his head into was a Corpus structure, but there were Grineer inside it.  Grineer being inside a Corpus building wasn’t all that uncommon, but them being inside a Corpus structure and not being on high alert due to the fact that they were clearly in someone else’s building definitely  _ was _ .  The Grineer seemed to be working on something.  In the command room the leaders were grunting and pointing at various diagrams of the same structure.

The building was a combination of Grineer and Corpus architecture.  “That’s new,” Richard said under his breath.

“Operator,” said Ordis, “there’s trouble.”

Richard sprinted for the exit and took cover in some rocks outside the building.  “What’s going on?”

Ordis patched through a transmission.  “‘... and so we hereby declare ourselves independent of the Queens and the Board.’”

Ordis’ voice engine clicked on and off as though he was deciding what to say.  “Operator,” he said finally, “that was a Corpus commander speaking from a Grineer ship, with Grineer behind him.”

“THAT’S new...” said Richard slowly.  Time to face the aftermath of whatever the hell had just happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have (hopefully polite) questions? Have (hopefully relevant) comments? Hell, have any (hopefully at least halfway to quasi-relevant) memes? Drop me a line at sarcasticmathematician @ gmail.com (email address broken to hopefully reduce the amount of crawler-generated flotsam that appears in my inbox) and I'll (maybe) reply in a reasonable* amount of time.
> 
> *the word "reasonable" is hereby defined as "whenever the hell I get around to it, schedule permitting" (what can I say, I'm a busy dude!)


	10. Sinkhole

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ahh, Project Sinkhole. The grand master plan of Gerard Ephasus to create an empire independent of the Grineer, Corpus, or Orokin. And it very nearly went off without a single hitch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sinkhole: Sinkhole  
> In which Richard finally gets his answers about Project Sinkhole - sort of, and the Shattered Ghost plot hook is baited and thrown.

**Sinkhole - Chapter 1**

It wasn’t the fact that there was a response to the recent events that shocked him.  No, that was to be expected. A group of Corpus teaming up with a group of Grineer to declare an independent sovereignty, flying in the face of both the Twin Queens and the Corpus Board?  Not even the Infested would ignore this.

That was a figure of speech, of course.  The Infested ignored everything that had anything to do with politics unless they were currently eating it.

What startled Richard was the swiftness of the response.  Not even an hour had gone by before the Grineer, Corpus, and the few Tenno who had accepted the payment offered them had teamed up to rain down destruction on the unfortunate sots.  Though the Tenno had withdrawn from the fight less than twenty minutes after they had joined it, their initial move to disable the ships of the new group proved to be the deciding factor.

Their attack was just as effective as Richard expected it to be, but that presented a problem.  If he was going to figure out what was going on, he needed people to talk to. “And you can only _talk_ to someone WHILE THEY’RE STILL ALIVE!” he yelled in frustration into his comms.  “Sorry,” he said immediately. “I’m calm now. Can you help with delaying them for at least an hour?”

“I make no guarantees,” came the reply, “but I will try.”

“Thank you, Mother Cassandra.”  The connection with New Loka closed, and Richard trudged back to his ship.

\- -

“Okay, here’s what I know,” Richard began.  “Five hours ago, Ordis picked up chatter on an old Corpus comm channel.  The words ‘the Limbo Frequency’ were being repeated ad infinitum. I decided to find out what was going on.  I uncovered a warning from a dead man telling me to ‘save the children’, and then that transmission went out.”

“That’s pretty heavy,” said Lydia.  “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Not right now,” he replied.  “You’re too far away. Stay with the Clan until the Arbiters decide what they’re going to do about this.  I’ll give you more information when I can.”

“Wait!”  She said before he could close the transmission.  “Where are you? I can’t withhold this from them.”

“I’m near Charon,” Richard told her.  “There’s a war zone between the Dojo and here, and you’ll have to come out in the middle of it to reach me.  There’s so much crossfire that you’d be hit by a stray missile within seconds, cloak or no cloak.”

“What about you?”

Richard indicated the Grineer galleon behind him.  “I have decent cover, for the moment.”

“The Clan’s already mob- ... galleon that made trans-  … -ust killing more Grineer and ... legit, then ... allies for Synergy.”  Her transmission was breaking up.

“Looks like my cover’s about to be blown apart.  Be safe, Lydia.” Richard closed the connection. “Ordis, do you have the coordinates from the projectors yet?”

“I have a set of coordinates, a shield frequency, and a velocity.”

“How long ago did you set course?” Richard asked, hoping the answer wasn’t ‘two seconds.’

“Twelve minutes.  The galleon we were using as cover happened to be moving in the same direction.”

“Excellent.  Time to destina-oh.  We’re here.” They had passed through a shell of some sort of energy that had been making the facility invisible.

A landing bay opened and lit up.  He was clearly expected. Seeing no reason not to, he landed his Liset in the bay.

“Let’s go see what’s up.”

 

**Sinkhole - Chapter 2**

The inside of the facility was entirely automated.  There weren’t any personnel anywhere, not even Corpus robotics.  “Warm welcome,” he noted as he stepped off his ship.

The lights in the facility seemed to be guiding him to one of the doors.  Richard followed them after giving Ordis a final instruction. “Take the Landing Craft back to the Orbiter and get out of here.  You can come back if this doesn’t end in a fireball.” Ordis obliged.

The door led to a long hallway that turned left.  Richard walked slowly, looking for any sign of life.  Turning the corner, he found himself facing an even longer hallway.  Halfway down this second hallway, his Trinity Prime’s HUD lit up. One lifesign.  Richard smiled. At long last, he’d found what he was looking for. At last he would get his answers.

\- -

He reached the end of a hall to find a locked door.  He looked around and noticed a security camera in the ceiling.  The camera turned and noticed him, and a panel in the wall opened.  Clearly he was expected to give up his weapons. Richard hesitated for only a second before obliging.  Once he’d placed his Sancti Tigris, Lex Prime, and War in the compartment, the door unlocked. As he stepped through, he slow-clapped loudly.  “Quite the mess you’ve caused up there. I’m impressed.”

“Richard of Miraalan giving me a compliment on how much destruction I’ve caused?  I’m humbled.” A man was sitting in a chair on the opposite side of a mahogany table.  There was a small box in the exact middle of the table, and another chair on the other side.  Apart from that, the entire massive room was completely devoid of decoration. The normal Corpus metal plates made up the walls, but it seemed that this room had been built with the express purpose of being very large: there were no shelves hanging from the walls, and no storage unit tramways near the ridiculously high ceiling.

“And who are you?”

“My name is Gerard Ephasus.  This is my masterpiece, Tenno.  I have carved out an empire for myself within this system.  The Corpus Board and the Twin Queens can do nothing to stop it now.  And I’m not finished. When I am, you will join me.”

“I have to say, I’m interested in the idea of a group of people shunning both the Queens and the Board.  But you sound so certain that I’ll join you in this venture. Why is that?”

“Because you will have no other choice.”  Forcefields locked into place around him, leaving his only avenue of escape to be out the door he’d come in, which was also the room’s only door.  “I’ve seen what you’re capable of. What if one day you decide I’m the bad guy? I can’t have that.” The forcefields started moving toward the door.  He was clearly expected to leave.

“And what if I’ve _already_ decided you’re the bad guy?”

“Then you would require some... _encouragement_ .  But you haven’t decided that.  Not yet. You _were_ certain of it, and now you are not.  Let me put your mind at ease.” The door closed behind him, and then all the lights in the corridor clicked off.  In the time it took his eyes to adjust, Richard found that he had been teleported. The lights were still off, except for a spotlight three meters in front of him.  A figure appeared in it just as a voice spoke in his mind. _He is._

The figure was Lydia.

\- -

“Lydia!?”  Richard staggered backward.  “What are you doing here?”

_She’s not really here,_ said the voice in his mind.   _See the ripples?_

Hologram.  “Wha…”

The hologram looked frightened.  The reason why became apparent as another hologram winked on behind her.  A Nekros was standing directly behind her with his hand centimeters from her neck.  If she moved, he would Soul Punch her, and without a Warframe she was helpless.

“This isn’t real.”

_Then ask her something only she would know._

“Can she see me?”

The hologram of Lydia nodded.  Tears were beginning to form in the corners of her eyes.

“Hold tight, Lydia.  He won’t hurt you. They’re only doing this to make a point.”

Lydia nodded again and took a deep breath.

“When we were in Kiri’s apartment, who killed her?  Was it really you, or did you take the fall for me?”

The hologram was silent for a minute.  “I did,” she said in a shaky voice. “I killed her.”

_Oh, come on,_ said the voice.   _Ask her something I don’t know.  Something I wasn’t there for._

That voice.  Richard finally recognized it.  “Kiri?”

_Back from the dead._

“Get out of my head!”

Lydia gasped.  “No…”

_Yes._

“Enough!”  Richard yelled.  Taking a deep breath, he spoke again.  “Lydia,” he asked, “when we were in the observed room and I blocked the cameras, what did you ask me to do?”

Kiri was silent for a moment, but only for a moment.   _Damn, I was hoping it would take you longer to find something I don’t know and can’t have told Ephasus_ …

“I asked you to sit with me,” said Lydia with a slight blush.  “I wanted a friendly shoulder.”

Richard’s blood ran cold.  “This is real.”

_Very much so, you fool_.

“Where were you when he got you?”

The hand touched her neck, and Lydia stiffened.

“Don’t tell me where you are or even if you know.  Tell me where you were when they got you.”

“Halfway between where we first met and where you last had a working Chroma,” she said after a moment to think.  The hand relaxed, and Lydia’s shoulders sagged.

Coordinates flashed across his HUD.   _Bless Ordis, he’s paying attention,_ thought Richard as a prompt flashed across his screen.   _Initiate rescue?  YOKNTYACMB._

Richard immediately recognized the code as one he’d helped develop for hostage-related crises.   _Yes = Okay.  No = Thank you.  Alert Clan Miraalan = Both._  “Okay,” he said.  “Thank you.” He stepped forward.  “I’m assuming you plan to kill her if I say no?”

_Only if we can’t change your mind,_ said Kiri in his head, and the lights went out again.

_You have fifteen minutes to change your mind or make it back to the conference room, or Lydia dies._  A pair of Riot Moas dropped out of the ceiling in front of him.

Richard cracked his knuckles.  “Let’s get cracking.”

**  
**

**Sinkhole - Chapter 3**

Neither Bursa had ever fought a Tenno before, so both died to Link within seconds.  Richard Blessed himself and threw an EV at one of the dying Riot Moas before moving on.

_You should run,_ said Kiri.   _You don’t know how big this place is._

“Yes, I do,” said Richard evenly.  “It’s only as big as the outside. He wouldn’t have wasted compression technology on this facility.”

There was a pause.   _Damn_.

Richard laughed.  “Next.”

Someone grabbed his shoulder from behind and spun him around so they could punch him in the face.  Richard staggered backward, and when he finally regained his sight, he saw them.

The figure was a black and green Frost prime with the Squall helmet, and they were laughing.

In the next second, so was Richard.

“Did you really think I was that stupid, Kiri?”

“It wasn’t a matter of how intelligent you are, Richard,” said Darrin’s voice from the Frost Prime.  “It was a matter of whether or not you believed it was me. And just as I predicted, you don’t.”

Richard laughed.  “That’s not how Darrin speaks.”

“It is when I want you distracted,” said the Darrin specter.  “Let’s see what you’re most afraid of, shall we?”

Richard spun around too late to stop the Nekros from laying a hand on him, and everything went black.

\- -

“You okay in there?” Darrin asked over comms.

“Yeah, sorry.  Got a little nostalgic for the simple vaults.”  Richard didn’t like the Corpus all that much, but he didn’t fault them for adding better security to their ships after the recent Tenno incursions.

“I hear you.  Take your time and we’ll get out of here.”

Richard ‘hmm’ed an affirmative and tapped the last hexagon on the screen.

The lock chirped softly and the door opened.  As he stepped into the lift, something moved in the corner of his vision.  Turning quickly, he raised his shotgun, but nothing was there. Shrugging, he hit the button to make the platform descend into the vault.

Halfway down, the lift ground to a halt.  This was convenient, since Richard had intended to go into the ducts anyway.  But what happened next was anything but.

“Did you think you could escape justice?” a soft voice hissed in his ear.

Someone grabbed at him from behind, but Richard had been moving since before the lift had completely stopped.  He ran full-tilt through the duct until he reached the end, then turned back to face the Stalker.

In this enclosed space, there was nowhere for him to pull any of his teleport shenanigans.  Richard smiled and waited for the figure to appear.

“Did you think you could avoid punishment?” the voice hissed from the other side of the grate behind him.  Richard spun too late as Hunhow’s puppet stabbed him through the chest with the original War. He tried to pull the trigger on his shotgun, but couldn’t.  He couldn’t move a muscle.

_Sorry, friend,_ said Kiri in his head.   _But I’m afraid you’ll have to sit here for a while._

_That was just_ **_dandy_ ** _,_ thought Richard, but he had better things to do.  He dropped Transference to his Zephyr and rose from his chair in the Orbiter.  “Blow the frame,” he told Ordis, and his Cephalon obliged.

Walking past his Arsenal, Richard pulled another Zephyr off the shelf, tossing the briefcase toward Navigation while he selected his weapons.  Before he could step into the Warframe that had risen out of the briefcase as it landed, the Stalker appeared between the frame and him.

“Ordis, I thought we’d bulked up security in this place,” he said as he parried the Stalker’s first blow with his own sword and followed it up with a shotgun blast that knocked the Shadow back into the Zephyr behind him.  The Warframe closed up, turned and roundhouse kicked the Stalker back Richard’s way, where he was impaled.

Richard laughed.  “Not so scary now, are you?”

\- -

“Pick it up,” Lydia told her partner, and Finn did.  “Your go, Richard.”

“LeadwithaQUEEEEEEN!” he said as he tossed down a Spade.

“You know, I can’t remember the last time we’ve done this,” remarked Sarah from across the table from Richard.  “Things have been really busy for a while.”

“We haven’t had a lot of time to do much of anything except clean our weapons and head right back out,” Lydia agreed as she swept up the cards and dropped a pair of red Jacks in their place.  “It’s nice to have time to do this kind of stuff.”

Something went crash in the kitchen, followed by a shout of pain and a string of naughty words.

“Oh, _calm_ thyself, Vahlin,” yelled Richard as he clicked his fingers to relieve the injury.  “Just because you dropped the mixer again…” he said in a low voice so only the table could hear.

“I swear, sometimes I think he just makes the scene for the sake of making a scene,” said Sarah as Lydia dropped an Ace.  “Ooh, _mine_!”

“Aww, I thought the last trump was buried,” Lydia pouted sarcastically.

_Wait, **wait** , WAIT, _ said Kiri in Richard’s head.   _What the_ hell _is_ **_this_ ** _?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have (hopefully polite) questions? Have (hopefully relevant) comments? Hell, have any (hopefully at least halfway to quasi-relevant) memes? Drop me a line at sarcasticmathematician @ gmail.com (email address broken to hopefully reduce the amount of crawler-generated flotsam that appears in my inbox) and I'll (maybe) reply in a reasonable* amount of time.
> 
> *the word "reasonable" is hereby defined as "whenever the hell I get around to it, schedule permitting" (what can I say, I'm a busy dude!)


	11. Canyon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 'Canyon' was one of those Arcs that took a while only because I needed to make sure that all my characters were internally consistent. I had to jump around a bit when writing to establish a character well enough in my own head to ensure that their actions here would be consistent with things they do in other situations. For Richard this was easy - what would I do in this situation? For The Shattered Ghost of Kirian this was slightly more difficult, but I managed. Her situation makes for a really good D&D campaign idea, as well as just making her a truly fantastic villain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sinkhole: Canyon  
> In which Richard displays his own mental discipline against psychic assaults, Project Sinkhole comes to a violent head, Richard goes slightly out of his way to annoy Cephalon Suda, and we meet an honest-to-God fangirl.

**Canyon - Chapter 1**

There was no light, no sound, no smell, and no gravity: Richard was completely alone in a formless void.

“You know I’m not afraid of isolation, right?” he asked the emptiness. His voice didn’t echo off anything, so he couldn’t tell if there was anything else near him.

_ Found it _ , said Kiri in his mind, and color, sound, and gravity returned.

He was standing in a small booth with a clear view of a railway.  The track split as it approached him to pass by him on either side.  To his left was a small group of New Loka personnel, perhaps ten or twelve.  To his right was Katherine. Both parties were tied down to the rails.

“Found what, Kiri?” Richard asked as he scanned the booth, looking for the latch on the window.

_ Your biggest fear.  Choosing between many of those you care for, and one for whom you care greatly. _

“I’m not afraid of the trolley problem, Kiri,” said Richard as the proverbial trolley appeared, speeding toward the junction.

_ Then you have a solution? _

“Of  **course** I have a solution.  I’m a physician.”

The trolley was very close to the junction now, but Richard wasn’t fazed.  Pulling out his shotgun, he leveled it at the trolley and pumped the trigger.

The trolley exploded in a gratuitously large fireball, and both Katherine and the group of New Loka personnel were completely unharmed.

“We’re done here,” said Richard, and the lights in the hallway clicked back on.

_ How did you do that?  You aren’t supposed to be able to do that in the fear landscape. _

“Kiri, you’re forgetting one very important thing about going into my mind.  It’s MY mind.  _ I’m _ in control.  Not some Nekros who thinks he can go digging for things that scare me.”

Kiri protested further, but Richard wasn’t listening.  He was too busy running.

\- -

He made it back to the room with only seconds to spare (according to Kiri) and strode calmly and purposefully toward Ephasus, who hadn’t moved since Richard had last seen him.

“Kiri didn’t think you’d make it back here,” Ephasus remarked as Richard approached the table.  “But I knew you would.”

“Mind games don’t work on me anymore.  I’ve played too many of them with Sai’ah.  I assume you have a speech prepared?”

“I wouldn’t call it a speech, per se, but I have a few words I’d like to share with you, yes.  Take a seat.”

Richard sat in the chair across from Ephasus, and the small black box was pushed toward him.  Richard opened it to find a detonator switch and a key.

“My operatives are no longer actively holding your friend prisoner at this stage.  She is in a locked room to which only you now have the key. That detonator is connected to charges that have been rigged to detonate this facility, but it will only function while inside the lit area of this room, which as you can see extends a mere two meters beyond this table.  You now have three options. You can go to her and release her, letting me escape; you can press the button, thus destroying me, my empire, and yourself, and leaving her in a cell only you and I know where; or you can join me, and together we can set things right in this system.”

“Why would you offer me the opportunity to join you if I have at no point displayed the slightest inclination of doing so?”

“Your friend only has so much air.  Your options boil down to these: saving her and letting me get away for good, ending me here and now by sacrificing yourself and her, or joining me and therefore making it illogical for me to keep her locked in a cell.  I would ask you to consider all I have accomplished thus far before you decide never to work with me.”

“You bombed a temple.”

The man sighed.  “I told him to get your attention.  I didn’t specify  _ how _ , and I regret that now.  Giving him free reign was, perhaps, a little _too_ much delegation on my part.”

“ _ Perhaps _ ?” asked Richard snidely.  He tossed the box over his shoulder absentmindedly and set the key and the detonator an equal distance from the center of the table in front of him.  “You have certainly accomplished a great deal. Uniting Grineer and Corpus under one banner is something that no one else could have ever hoped to do in this day and age, after all.”

Ephasus smiled.  “You’re quite right about that.  This day was thirty years in the making, you know.”

“I believe it.”

Ephasus extended his hand to Richard, equidistant from the key and the detonator.

Richard raised his hand to a neutral position, leaving exactly the same amount of space between his hand and all three options.

“You’ve chess-mastered this remarkably well for someone who isn’t the best chessmaster I know,” Richard told him.  “But there is one thing you didn’t take into account in your plan.”

“And what would that be?”

“The very nature of the Tenno, and thus my response.”

Richard turned his mind inward, to his Warframe.

_ I know you hear me _ , he thought.   _ And I know sometimes in the past it seemed as though I didn’t care whether I lived or died, before I remembered the truth of my Transference. _

_ I know that it may seem at times as though I care little for the life I share with you. _

_ But that is not the case. _

_ I am the Medic. _

_ And you are alive. _

_ I will not work with Ephasus.  But I will not condemn you without cause. _

_ I know you can move on your own.  I remember you moving before, in the Old Days.  I saw you move before, when Hunhow’s puppet was seconds from killing me.  I would ask you to move once again. _

_ You have seen everything I have seen.  You know everything I know. You may take the key or the detonator. _

_ I leave this in your most capable hands.  Know that whatever you may decide for us, it has been the best decision we’ve ever made. _

“And what is that?” asked Ephasus as Richard dropped Transference.

Ordis hadn’t gone far, and the facility was no longer protected by the optical camouflage.

His Warframe had yet to make the choice, Richard saw.  He’d started piggybacking the signal from Darrin’s spy drones since Darrin had confirmed that he was using them, though Darrin had only confirmed his use of them after Richard had caused a second drone to be destroyed by close proximity to a large explosion.  A live camera feed from just over his Warframe’s shoulder was being broadcast on an untraceable frequency to both his Landing Craft and Darrin’s lab.

A feed of the strike team Darrin had sent to rescue Lydia was streaming on another viewscreen, and Richard scanned it quickly for familiar faces.  Lydia and Ryoko were running through a facility filled with Corpus, Grineer, and even Tenno. Shots were flying everywhere, and it seemed impossible that they wouldn’t be hit by the crossfire, even though they were completely on the defensive as they moved.

Suddenly Lydia jerked to a stop and collapsed.  Ryoko flinched, dropped a snow globe, and kept moving.  Richard knew he wasn’t worried about her because he didn’t even look in her direction.

Sure enough, a pulse of black energy slammed into her, and Lydia stood up abruptly.  A shadowy figure coalesced in the middle of a group of Grineer Bombards, all of whom promptly died.  With a click of his fingers Tak raised them, and they immediately began shooting at their former comrades.

It had been nearly two minutes since he’d left the room, but Richard wasn’t paying that any attention.  They were nearly out of there.

Ryoko had just reached the door to the extraction zone when three Isolator Bursas dropped out of the ceiling behind him and blasted Tak into the wall.  For a moment it seemed as though things were about to go very badly, but then one Riot Moa exploded and another turned to fire directly at its remaining mate.

A Loki shimmered into focus behind them, tossing a dagger idly back and forth in his hands.  Richard wasn’t sure who it was, since no one in the Clan actively piloted Loki, but if they were there that meant Darrin trusted them to get Lydia out.

Ryoko sent an Ice Wave back the way they’d come and stopped an advancing phalanx of Grineer in their tracks.  Tak stood, then dissipated. Lydia, who was still weaponless, hadn’t stopped running since Tak had returned her to her feet.  Five seconds later, they boarded the extraction ship. A short message in green text flashed across the screen before the feed cut.  MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

She was safe.

Richard breathed a heavy sigh of relief as the facility exploded.

 

**Canyon - Chapter 2**

“Operator,” Ordis asked him, “how long do you plan to stay off the grid?”

“I’m not sure yet, Ordis,” Richard admitted.  “Without a Warframe I can’t do much, and I’m not about to spend my time sitting around the Dojo.  Besides, now I have an excuse to go somewhere I normally wouldn’t really be allowed to go.”

“Are you sure it’s wise to do this?”

“Not in the slightest,” Richard agreed.  “But I doubt even  _ she  _ is so petty that a few differences in opinion over who I should work for would give her reason to kill me.”

“I still don’t see why she would let you use one of her labs.  She sends units to kill you quite frequently.”

“Ordis, the world is a complicated place.”

“I see increasing amounts of evidence of that every day.”

\- -

Turns out both he and Ordis were right.  She was indeed not the slightest bit happy to see him, but that was to be expected.  She also sent a kill squad to greet him when he rang the doorbell.

Well, okay, that wasn’t actually true.  She didn’t send a kill squad.

She sent MULTIPLE kill squads.

After he’d dispatched the eighth group of Ospreys, he yelled into the door’s intercom, “Is this REALLY the most efficient use of your resources?”

The Ospreys didn’t come anymore after that, but the door still didn’t open.

Richard sighed.  “You can keep the results of my research,” he conceded.

The door still didn’t budge.

Richard didn’t budge either.

After about ten minutes, a very disgruntled-looking human female in a business suit carrying an honest-to-goodness cardboard clipboard exited from a side door and looked him up and down.

“Oh, thank  _ George _ , she sent something  **alive** this time,” Richard said snidely as she approached.

“Who’s George?” she asked.

“No idea.  Probably one of Jorge’s cousins,” Richard replied with a smirk.

“Oh, God, you’re one of THOSE people,” she said with a wry smile and sigh.  “I can see why she doesn’t like you.”

“Oh, that’s not why she hates me,” Richard said as he slowly holstered his Sancti Tigris.

“You work for Loka?” asked the woman, thoroughly taken aback.

“Yeeeeaahp.  And because of the Syndicates’ thoroughly  _ asinine _ belief that it’s better to be mortal enemies than civil acquaintances, I’m stuck dealing with THIS,” he indicated the pile of dismembered Ospreys around him, “every time I want to talk to her.  Which is admittedly not very often. But still. It’s a little excessive.”

She frowned.  “I’m confused.”

“You’re not the only one.”  Richard stretched lazily. “So, is she going to let me in or not?”

“She has agreed to let you in on the condition that you wear a blindfold while walking to and from your assigned lab space, share any and all lab notes with her, and agree to work in a monitored environment.”

“I will agree to her terms if she gives me her word as a Cephalon that she will not alter the arrangement after it is made, regardless of circumstances, at this time unforeseeable, that may or may not arise after I begin my work.”

“That sounded a little...  _ convoluted _ , but okay.”

“Just speaking in terms that she’ll understand that leave no loopholes for her if and when shenanigans occur.”

She smiled again.  “It’s too bad she doesn’t like you.  You’d have a good time working here full-time.”

“I’ve already got a full-time job, sunshine.”

“Oh?”

Richard laughed.  “She didn’t tell you who I am, did she?  Ha! That’s so perfect.”

“Why?  Who are you?”

“Doctor Richard Erich, at your service.”

She nearly dropped her clipboard.  “No. Way.” She flicked herself in the arm.  “I’m dreaming. I have to be.”

Now it was Richard’s turn to do a double take.  “What?”

“Richard.   _ You’re _ Richard.”

“Hello.”

“Oh. my. GOD I’msuchahugefanofyours I’vefollowedyourexploitssincetheearlydays Iforwardedyour planetoidpicturetoallofmyfriends Iwassoworriedduringyourtrialbutthenyougotletoffeasy andIwashoping you’dblowupsomethingelse andthenyoudidn’tfor SO long andIwasstartingtogetworriedyou’dnevergoback intothefield andthenyoujustshowupoutofnowhereat MY office during MY shift andohmyGodI’msoexcited EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”  She covered her mouth to stifle the outburst, stopped, took a deep breath, adjusted her glasses, and extended her hand. “Lucy Periwinkle.  _ So _ nice to meet you.”

Richard raised an eyebrow and shook her hand.  “Nice to meet you as well. Now, then, I assume you’ve brought the blindfold?”

“The what?”

“The blindfold.  The one I’ll supposedly be wearing while you escort me to my lab.”

“Oh.  Right.  Here.” She handed him a black scarf, and he tied it around his head.

“That’s not covering your eyes.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Are… you  _ going _ to cover your eyes with it?”

“No.”

Lucy smacked her forehead with her clipboard, then jumped back.  “Ow.” She’d hit herself with the clip instead of the board.

Richard laughed.  “Yes, I’m actually going to use that loophole.”

She shrugged.  “Can’t stop you.  Or  _ blame _ you, really.”

“Well, then, let’s go inside, shall we?”

“Yes, let’s.”

 

**Canyon - Chapter 3**

Suda had not been amused by his snide loophole with the blindfold: “You told me to wear it, not  _ where _ to wear it.”

She’d ordered Lucy to escort him out, but Lucy had only laughed.  “He’s got you on this one, Madam Cephalon,” she’d said.

That aside, Richard noticed as he worked, there hadn’t been any problems with her since he’d reached this lab.

Speaking of the lab, it was really nice.  He had tools that not even Miraalan could afford within arms reach, and the programmable automated construction droids could perform more complex processes than Richard thought most humans were capable of doing, and in less than a tenth of the time.  Which was good. Because he needed to finish the first mock up by the end of the day if he wanted to get back to the Dojo within a week.

He couldn’t contact any of them, he knew.  There were too many questions that needed to be answered that he couldn’t answer.  And he was not about to go back without the ability to leave in some semblance of combat-readiness.  Katherine would have his head if he tried to leave without a Warframe unless he was going to Phenix, and Richard agreed.  It was time to slow down a little, try to relax, maybe even find a new side-career instead of “mad scientist/mad bomber”. Emphasis on “maybe”.

\- -

He hadn’t hit a single hiccup along the entire process, which was WEIRD.  But hey, less problems meant more success.

All of his Warframes had been reconstructed to accommodate their new pilot.  It was time for field testing. And a sandwich.

Richard left the blank lab notebook behind as he carried the box of the new briefcases out the door and ran straight into Lucy, knocking her over.

“Sorry, my bad,” he said as he instinctively reached out his right hand for her to grab.

“It’s no big, really- woah.”  She’d grabbed his hand before she hit the ground, and he’d pulled her back to her feet, all while carrying the entire box of seven or eight briefcases in his left hand.  “You’re strong.”

Richard shrugged.  “I  _ am _ a Tenno, after all.”

Lucy laughed.  “True enough. Headed out?”

“Yes, actually.  I’ve finished my work.  Tell Suda I’m sorry about the cameras that were incidentally destroyed during my first test.”

“That wasn’t really an accident, was it?” she asked with a smirk.

“Absolutely not,” Richard confirmed with a shake of his head and a smirk of his own.  “But I’m still sorry I had to break them. I could use some help carrying the rest of my things.  Care to follow me? There’s food in it for you.”

“Uhhh….” Lucy blushed.

“Oh, come off it, Lucy, it’s not like that.  It’s getting late, your hours are likely up any minute now, and I’m offering to buy you food if you help me carry stuff back to my ship.”

“Fair enough,” she said, still blushing.  “Just that box there?” she asked, pointing to the other box on the lab table.

“That’s the one.  Come on, let’s go find somewhere cheap.  I said I’d buy you food, not a five-course meal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have (hopefully polite) questions? Have (hopefully relevant) comments? Hell, have any (hopefully at least halfway to quasi-relevant) memes? Drop me a line at sarcasticmathematician @ gmail.com (email address broken to hopefully reduce the amount of crawler-generated flotsam that appears in my inbox) and I'll (maybe) reply in a reasonable* amount of time.
> 
> *the word "reasonable" is hereby defined as "whenever the hell I get around to it, schedule permitting" (what can I say, I'm a busy dude!)


	12. Doctor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Richard has currently destroyed the following things on-page:  
> \- a Balor Fomorian  
> \- a large planetoid containing a base of operations for Project Sinkhole  
> \- a very large planetoid containing a facility related to Proeject Sinkhole  
> \- several hundred thousand Grineer soldiers  
> \- a few hundred thousand Corpus robots  
> \- probably some multiple of a million Infested at some point or another  
> \- more than likely a few other things I'm forgetting  
> \- it's a long list

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mother: Doctor  
> Richard is off the grid, so for these next few shortish Arcs, we'll be taking a dive into other people's heads! First up: Katherine, his fellow medical professional.  
> Finally, our first flashback!

**Doctor - Chapter 1**

There wasn’t really that much that actually bothered her, but people missing their appointments was definitely one of those things.

“Simon,” she asked over the comms, “can you please remind Richard that he had a mandatory appointment half an hour ago?”

“I’m afraid Richard isn’t in the Dojo at the moment,” came the reply.  “Do you want me to page his Orbiter?”

“Yes, please.”  This was odd. Richard being late was nothing new: he had a tendency to get caught up in whatever project he was working on.  But being somewhere else entirely when he was scheduled to meet with her was certainly not normal.

She opened a text messenger to Darrin’s terminal.   _Richard missed his appointment.  I’m going to Orcus to see if he lost track of time while working with Amaryn again._

Less than a minute later, she was boarding her Liset.

“Back so soon, Katherine?” her Cephalon remarked as she entered.  “Where are we headed?”

“Orcus Relay, Gaia.  I think Richard may have lost track of the time.”

“Did he miss an appointment _again_?”

“Believe it or not, he’s never completely _missed_ an appointment.  I’m fairly certain he’s working on a project with Amaryn again, but I have to be sure.”

“Of course.  We’ll be arriving momentarily.”

They reached the Relay, and Katherine headed for New Loka’s enclave.  She received a few waves from people who recognized her, but she didn’t stop to chat.

She had almost made it to the concourse door when her HUD spiked.  Without skipping a beat, she turned and sprinted back toward the hangar, turning a bullet jump from the balcony to the door to shave off another four seconds of movement.

She reached the platform alongside another Trinity and an Oberon to see the aftermath of an explosion.  Shrapnel had been sprayed across the landing bay, catching Tenno and civilians alike. A Landing Craft was on fire, and would probably explode at any second.

A Nova and a Limbo ran up from behind them and teamed up to contain the burning ship - the Limbo casting it into the Rift while the Nova worked to try to stop it from exploding.  Katherine didn’t stop to watch - there were several wounded.

With a nod to the other Trinity, she ran to the left platform while the other two ran to the right.  She counted three people who weren’t standing, and one was already being tended to by a Mesa holding a medkit.  “Lucky it wasn’t bigger,” she said under her breath as she reached the nearest civilian, then spoke tersely to him.  “Don’t sit up. Describe what happened.”

“I’m not sure what caused it,” he said as she sprayed disinfectant on his right shoulder in preparation to remove a large piece of shrapnel.  “Caught me by surprise and threw me. Got hit while I was in midair.”

“Deep breath.  One, TWO, three,” she said as she yanked out the jagged piece of metal on ‘two’.  “The shockwave hit you before the shrapnel?” He nodded, clearly in pain. “Sorry,” she said kindly as she covered the wound with a disinfected bandage and moved to his left arm, which had been grazed by something that flew past him.  “If that had been a normal explosion that came from the ship or an accidentally triggered grenade or some such, you should have been hit by the shrapnel before the blast, or at the same time if you were close enough…” The Oberon pulsed out a Renewal, easily reaching her patient with his range.  “You should be okay for now. Stay here until someone comes to get you: we don’t want to cause any more damage until we can get a proper look at the internal damage from the shockwave.” He nodded as she moved to the second victim, a Mirage with two pieces of metal sticking directly out of her chest and stomach.

“Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, you’re okay now,” she said softly to the Tenno, who was convulsing and moaning softly.  “You’re gonna be okay. Short and shallow breaths for me.” The Oberon’s Renewal was helping to slow her heart, and the short breaths would stimulate extracellular plasma in her chest, which would help buffer her internal organs when Katherine removed the shrapnel.  The Mirage complied, relaxing as Katherine sterilized the area around her chest. The shrapnel had embedded itself almost directly into the center of the Mirage’s right breast, which was lucky - it had missed the heart, so there would be little lasting damage and minimal scarring.

Katherine’s custom medical circuitry was running on full power now, and she cast a Reverse Link on the Mirage before steadying her hands.  “Okay, here we go… One, two, THREE!” She pulled hard on the piece of metal, successfully dislodging it. Meanwhile, all nerve impulses from the wound site were transferred to her brain rather than the Mirage’s.  She yelled in pain as the Oberon’s Renewal worked to close the wound.

When her vision cleared, she moved quickly to sterilize and bandage the rapidly closing wound, then moved to the second piece of shrapnel.  “Okay.”

“Help!”  Katherine’s head whipped around to see the Mesa who’d been helping the other civilian frantically looking all directions.  The young woman she’d been tending to was shaking and retching. With a glance down at the Mirage, who was still taking short shallow breaths, she waved to the Mesa.

“Come here and watch her.”  She stood and moved toward the dying civilian, and the Mesa ran over to the Mirage.  “Her breathing is perfect,” she called when the Mesa looked at Katherine in alarm. “I told her to do that.  Acidosis will help.” Looking down at the young woman, she saw that the Mesa had already removed some shrapnel from her torso, but it looked like a piece had broken off and gotten stuck in her left lung, causing the young woman’s body to attempt to cough it out, which was only damaging her lung further.  “Calm down, shhh, shhh, steady,” she said soothingly as she whipped out an Ether Dagger and put her hand on the woman’s forehead. “Oberon!” she yelled. “I need you!”

A few seconds later, a young man with long strands of brown hair sticking to his face was kneeling next to her.  “X-Ray Tech, Esbern Medical,” he said breathlessly as he reached her.

Silently thanking him for letting her know both his workplace and his level of training without including unnecessary things like his name or graduating class, she quickly searched the young woman for other pieces of shrapnel.  “Situation on your side handled?”

“Yes, ma’am.  Both victims already inside.”

“Good.  I’m going to need you to drop the Renewal for a few seconds so I can dig a piece of shrapnel out, but that Mirage over there can’t be off it for too long.  Wait for my word.”

The young man nodded and moved to crouch near the Mesa.

“Now,” Katherine said as she cancelled her Link and ignited the Ether Dagger.  The Oberon released the regeneration as Katherine made the necessary incision to reach the lung.  Two seconds later, Katherine had removed the shrapnel from the young woman’s body, and the instant the piece of metal was clear of her skin the Oberon cast Renewal again.

She let out a sigh of relief as she bandaged the cut and applied a mild sedative to the patient, who was now breathing steadily.  Standing again, she walked back over to the Mirage, where the Mesa and Oberon were having a hushed conversation.

“I’m still not sure how that would have caused that, though,” the Mesa was saying as Katherine knelt to find that the Oberon had already removed the other piece of shrapnel from the Mirage and was bandaging the sterilized wound.

“I don’t know for sure either, but that would be my guess,” he replied, then looked up.  “Everything okay, Doc?”

Katherine nodded.  “I see you’ve set her ribs as well.  Good work, Nurse…”

“Tyler Stern,” answered the Oberon.  “And I’m not a Nurse. Not yet. I’m still trying to find somewhere to do my residency.”

“Send me your transcripts and I’ll put in a good word for you.  I know a place that’s a bit understaffed at the moment.”

The young man nodded, looking surprised.  “Thank you, Doctor...”

“Alvarez,” said Katherine.  “Katherine Alvarez.”

“No way, really?  I-I’ll send them right away, Doctor Alvarez.  And thank you again.”

“You’re quite welcome.  We could use more people like you - good in a crisis.  Take care now.” Making sure the civilians and the Mirage we loaded on stretchers, she headed back toward Amaryn.

 

**Doctor - Chapter 2**

“You’re sure?” Katherine asked.

Amaryn nodded.  “Quite. It’s rather unusual for him.”

“You’re telling _me_.  Thanks anyway.”

“Anytime.”

So Amaryn hadn’t seen Richard in nearly two weeks.  The two of them had been working rather diligently on a large, highly classified project for a few months now, and it wasn’t like him not to check in.  Something was going on.

She was nearly to the door between the main concourse and the hangar when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

“Are you Doctor Alvarez?” asked a very nervous-looking member of the Relay staff.

“Yes,” she answered, confused.  “How can I help you?”

“I was told to deliver this to you,” the aide said.  “She said you would know what it meant.” She handed Katherine a folded piece of paper.

Katherine opened it to find the words _Gone fishing_ in Richard’s handwriting scrawled on the page.  She sighed.

Wait, _she_?  “Who gave you this?” she asked the aide, but when she turned they were already gone.

\- -

She hadn’t wanted to be disturbed.  That was why she’d left the sign on her office door saying exactly that:  “Gone fishing. Do not disturb.”

Of course, Richard had had other ideas.

“So,” he began as he walked up from around the corner.  “What’s the deal, Katherine?”

“What deal?” she asked, shooting him an irritated look.  “I’m fishing.”

“I can see that.”  He nodded to the pole in her hands.

“Then why did you ask?”

“I didn’t ask what you were doing.  I asked you why you’re doing it.”

“Maybe I needed the fresh air.”  She had a bite.

“You can get that anywhere.  Even the air on Ceres is fresher than the Dojo’s scrubbers can get it.”

“Maybe I needed to get away for a few days, then.  Ever consider that?”

“I understand needing time to oneself,” he said with a shrug.  “But don’t pretend that’s what this is.”

“I beg your pardon?” she asked, a little angrier than she’d intended.  The fish had taken the bait without getting hooked.

Richard produced a pole of his own while she re-baited her hook.  “You know I don’t like repeating myself, Doctor.”

“You know I value my privacy, Medic.”  They both cast. “Why are you here?”

“Maybe I needed some fresh air myself,” he commented with a wink and a half-smile.

“Or maybe you just enjoy pissing me off too much to let me go a day without getting annoyed with you.”  It was his turn to lose one.

“Perhaps.  All the same, you came here for a reason.  I’d quite like to know what it was. Maybe I can help.”

“Ahh, yes, because you’re **so** very good at helping people in suboptimal emotional states.”

“I _do_ have degrees in psychiatry and psychology. I’ve even got a license and everything.”

She sighed.  He had her there.  “I’m feeling a bit… overwhelmed.  Lots of thoughts chasing each other around my head.  I’m not sure which one of them to listen to. Dropping off the grid for a day or two helps to clear my head.  When I get back I’ll have sorted out what I’m feeling.”

“Is this about the incident on Sedna?”

“Of COURSE it’s about that!  Why else would I be so uncertain of things?  Wh-” Her angry rant was interrupted by a tug on her line.

Now it was his turn to sigh.  “Katherine, you really ought to stop blaming yourself for things that were outside your control.  There was no way you could have known he wasn’t telling you the whole truth. Trust me. I’ve had worse days than that one.”

“Oh really?” she said bitterly.  “What could be worse than losing three Tenno in one day?”

“Try seven.”  His tone was matter-of-fact and his face impassive.

 _SEVEN,_ she thought, her mind racing.  “H-” She stopped herself, took a breath, then continued.  “How do you continue?”

“Some days I don’t,” he said simply.

Several things clicked into place in Katherine’s mind, including some periods where she remembered Richard being mysteriously absent for a few hours or even a few days at a time.

Richard closed the distance between them in two strides, catching her as she sat down heavily on the stoney shoreline.  “Careful, Doctor,” he said. “This would be a lousy place to break an ankle.”

“How do you stay so positive?”  Her question wasn’t about his method so much as about what he thought she should do, but she hadn't worded that properly.  Hopefully he’d catch her meaning.

“It’s easier to be positive when you’re doing positive things and spending time with positive people,” he said after a moment.  “As to how to stay positive when you’re by yourself, that’s something you’ll have to find for yourself. If I tell you what to do it won’t help - and that’s assuming I had an answer for you in the first place.”

Katherine threw up her hands in a defeated gesture.  “Is life really that hard for you?”

“Whoever said living was easy?” he asked with a bemused smile.  “The trick is living with yourself, anyhow.”

“So I have to live with a failure.”

“You didn’t fail, Katherine.  You survived an impossible choice.  And you’ve saved many more lives than you’ll ever know - every person you’ve saved has gone on to save others: by extension, you’ve saved those people, too.”

“Doesn’t make living with these memories any easier.”

“Whoever said living was easy?” he repeated, and Katherine laughed.

“Not me,” she said as she tried to figure out why she was laughing.  “Not me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have (hopefully polite) questions? Have (hopefully relevant) comments? Hell, have any (hopefully at least halfway to quasi-relevant) memes? Drop me a line at sarcasticmathematician @ gmail.com (email address broken to hopefully reduce the amount of crawler-generated flotsam that appears in my inbox) and I'll (maybe) reply in a reasonable* amount of time.
> 
> *the word "reasonable" is hereby defined as "whenever the hell I get around to it, schedule permitting" (what can I say, I'm a busy dude!)


	13. Brother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time for the serious flashbacks to start now - we're going back to Richard's life pre-Terminus: before the Tenno went to sleep. There's a lot to cover here, so stay tuned for more about Richard's position on Terminus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mother: Brother  
> In which Richard's younger brother Dan wakes from cryosleep, and we have another flashback, this time to much further back.

**Brother - Chapter 1**

“Wake up, Tenno.”  He was falling.

SLAM.  Dan hit the ground hard.  He pushed himself onto his knees, completely winded.

“Take your time.”  The same voice as before.  Female, commanding, but not forceful - almost parent-like.

“Where…” he began.

“Your coordinates have been relayed to your Orbiter.  It will be arriving shortly.”

He remembered now.  A lot of fighting, a lot of running.  His brother telling him that he’d be right back - his brother.  “Where is Richard?” he asked the voice.

“I don’t know,” she admitted, “but if you’re referring to the Richard I think you are, the Harbinger of Miraalan, the Asteroid-Smasher, the Heretic Healer, then you should hear from him before too much time passes.  If you knew him by name before the Collapse, he would want to see you now that you’re awake.”

Dan didn’t recognize the title ‘Harbinger of Miraalan’ - he had some idea of what Miraalan was, but he hadn’t strayed too far into the politics of his kin before the Day of Blood: all he knew was that Miraalan was one of the more famous Clans.  As for ‘Asteroid-Smasher’, he could only assume that his brother had gotten into some destructive shenanigans in the interim - just like the old days. As for ‘Heretic Healer’, well, that was what ensured that they were in fact speaking of the same Richard.

“‘Heretic Healer’?  That sounds like my brother.”

The voice audibly gasped.  “Brother? Tenno, do you have a way to contact him?”

Dan thought for a moment, trying to remember.  “No. He said he’d be right back…”

“Richard has been off the grid for nearly two months now.”  The voice seemed concerned. “If you wish to find his Clan, I recommend you go to Orcus Relay and speak to Amaryn of New Loka.”

“What’s New Loka?  Who are you? Is the Orcus Relay still at Pluto?  What-“ Dan could almost _feel_ the voice hold up her hand.

“I am the Lotus.  Your Ship Cephalon can better answer your questions.”  As if on cue, a familiar Liset came into view and landed on the pad outside.  As it did, Dan looked around the room he was in for the first time.

It was small, with a double door and no windows or furnishings, save for the cryopod that was firmly attached to the ceiling.  The door had opened when Dan stood up, and outside the room Dan could see a rocky space and a crude but serviceable landing pad.

“I suppose I’ll ask him, then.  Fare well, Lotus.”

“Stay safe, Tenno.”

He boarded his Liset, and the systems slowly came online.  Well, some of them. Rather a lot of them seemed to be… dark.  “Ordis?” he asked cautiously.

“Operator!  Welcome back!  Ordis has been attempting to restore systems.  Thankfully I did not need to leave the Void during your sleep: all systems are intact and theoretically operational.”

“How long was I asleep?”

Ordis whirred for a moment.  “I’m not sure. It has been quite some time.”

Dan sighed.  He could ask someone else for a timeline later.  “Ship status?”

“Navigation is online.  Power to other consoles requires reconnection to the main Orbiter compartment.”

“Set course for the Orcus Relay on Pluto.”

“Course laid in.  We should arrive within a few minutes after reconnection.”

They had taken off at some point, and his Orbiter was now in view.  “Do I have any messages?”

“No.”  Ordis almost sounded disappointed.  “Though I would attribute that mostly to the fact that you were not awake.  I have reactivated your alias on the communications console. Your old comrades will see that you are awake now.”

Dan nodded as his Liset reconnected to the main Orbiter.  “Understood. Punch it.”

“Punching,” said Ordis as the ship slipped into the Void.

 

**Brother - Chapter 2**

Orcus Relay turned out to be rather vacant, which to Dan at least was unexpected.  From his memories of Strata and Leonov, it should have been fairly crowded. After asking a member of Relay staff to point him toward New Loka, he headed in that direction.

As it turned out, New Loka was an organization of humans that appeared to greatly revere nature.  Dan supposed that wasn’t too horrible of an idea. “Excuse me,” he said to the young woman at the door.  “I’m looking for Amaryn?”

“Mother Amaryn is at the center of the Enclave.” She gestured toward the back of the room, where a young woman was sitting on a rock that jutted out of the pool of water that covered most of the room’s floor.  Dan thanked her and headed that way.

Amaryn looked up as he approached.  “Will you help us, Tenno? And our cause?”

Dan blinked, a little surprised.  “I was actually hoping you could help me find someone?”

Now it was Amaryn’s turn to blink in surprise.  “And who might that be?”

“My brother, Richard.”

Amaryn stood.  “Richard Erich?”

“Yes.  You know him?”

Amaryn smiled nervously.  “He’s done… rather a lot of work with us.  However, I have not heard from him for about a month, save for the notice that he was going on a sabbatical for personal reasons.”

“Did he say when he’d be back?”

“If he told anyone, he didn’t tell me.”

Dan nodded slowly.  “Yeah, that sounds like him.  I was also told you could assist me with finding his Clan?”

At the mention of Miraalan, Amaryn perked up.  “Yes. I can give you coordinates and entry codes for the Rail to Phenix.  Be sure to mention who you are when you arrive.” An aide handed her a piece of paper, which she handed to Dan.  “Go well, Tenno.”

“Go well, Amaryn.”

Dan sent the access codes at the rail Amaryn had indicated, and was greeted by a crisp, businesslike voice.

“Name, race, occupation, intention, length of visit?”

“Uh…”  This was not what Dan had been expecting.  “Daniel Erich, Tenno…” he paused to think about what would qualify as his occupation.  “Tenno?”

Intention was even more difficult.  “Family reunion, length indeterminate?”

There was a loud sigh on the other end and a crackle as another person joined the comms.  “ _‘When darkness shakes the ashen sky/And the night has slain the day,’_ ” the new voice intoned.

“ _‘The tears of the moon will drown the sun/And the fallen shall enter the fray.’_ ”  Dan responded without thinking.

There was a short pause, after which the rail spun up.  “Welcome to Phenix, Dan.”

He made punch to find himself in orbit of a beautiful glassy blue-and-green marble in a lazy orbit of a warm, fuzzy sun.  His comms crackled again. “Landing cleared for Citadel Pad Four.” Ordis autorouted, and Dan began scrolling through the visitor’s pamphlet, stopping in surprise at the listing for people in government.

          “Dr. Richard A. K. Erich v Tenno, MD

          Chancellor of Medicine

          Harbinger of Miraalan

          Flawless from Loka

          Partner of Perrin

          Maxim of Hexis

          Genius of Suda

          PhD PhD DC EMT”

That was a long list of titles, but Dan wasn’t surprised at all by the length of the collection.  He was surprised that Richard seemed to have voluntarily taken a post that put him in a position of what was presumably the ultimate authority on medical matters in a civilian installation.  The times had decidedly changed.

 

**Brother - Chapter 3**

 “Hey, Dan!”

 Dan returned her wave.  “Hey, Mandy. I thought you and Richard were studying for that test today?”

 She made a face.  “He stood me up.”

 “That doesn’t sound like him.”

 “Said he had ‘some work stuff’ to finish, but he’d meet me at your house when he was done.”

 Dan sighed.  “Wish he’d told me.  Come on.”

 They walked for a few minutes before reaching the Erich residence.  Dan unlocked the door with a casual tap on the palm scanner and they entered to find that Richard had left a note on the digital pad.

_Taking longer than expected.  Don’t wait up._

“Damnit, Richard,” said Mandy, only half angry.  “I really need to pass that test.”

“He’ll be back before dusk,” said Dan with confidence.  “He’s never let anything keep him later than that before, no matter how out-of-whack things get over there.”

“I just don’t understand what he could be doing that would take up this much of his time,” she admitted.  “I mean, it’s not like he’s working on the war effort or anything, right?” Her face paled at Dan’s expression.  “No way.”

“It’s not like that,” Dan said hastily.  “He remote-pilots the device. He’s in no real danger.”

Mandy relaxed a little.  “Why didn’t he tell me?”

“I’m not going to speak for my brother,” said Dan after a moment.  “But if I were him, I wouldn’t have told you either. I would have wanted our friendship to be normal.”

Mandy looked thoughtful for a moment, then made up her mind.  “I don’t think our friendship was ever normal, though. I mean, from day one he’s always been different from anyone else I’ve ever known.”

“You’re different from most of the people we’ve met as well,” he pointed out.  “Most of the kids don’t look at us twice, being the parentless lot we are.”

“But you’re smart, kind, and live in the same area that I do,” she said.  “Clearly you’re of Status, and ‘Status is not to be ignored’.” She sighed, shaking her head.  “Or at least, that’s the prevailing theorem at school. I suppose I should have known better.”

“Don’t blame yourself just because no one told you the whole truth.  That won’t do anyone any good.”

“I suppose not.”

\- -

True to Dan’s prediction, Richard returned before dusk.  What Dan had _not_ predicted was how close he came to that point.

“Let me tell you,” he began as he came through the front door, “I have had the WORST f-“ he cut himself off abruptly when he saw Mandy.  “Shit, Mandy, I’m sorry. You deserve better.”

“No, you did right,” she said.  “The war comes first, after all.”

Dan shook his head slightly, and Richard for once didn’t even look questioningly at him - which made Dan wonder if he’d ever done so accidentally after all.

“Well, this is _not_ how I intended to tell you that my brother and I are piloting experimental drones in live combat scenarios, but I suppose the kavat’s out of the cage now.”

“What kind of drones?”

“The kind with very high mobility and very big guns.”  Richard had made it a point never to lie to Mandy, Dan knew, but how closely he rode that line was nothing short of masterful.

\- -

“You _do_ have a plan, right?”  Dan was asking more for Mandy’s benefit than his own.  Things were bad enough since the victory celebration had become a bloodbath.

“Of course,” said Richard.  “I just don’t know _which_ plan this falls under yet.  Which is why I need to go find out.”

“What if you don’t come back?” asked Mandy.

“I’ll be careful.  I’ll be smart. And I’ll be RIGHT. BACK.”

With a last look at his brother and a quick smile for his friend, Richard ducked out the door, Markhor helm rising to cover his face.

\- -

That was the last time Dan had seen him.  And the last time he’d seen Mandy was… Oh, crap.  She was still where he’d left her. If that place even still existed.  He would not have good news for his brother after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have (hopefully polite) questions? Have (hopefully relevant) comments? Hell, have any (hopefully at least halfway to quasi-relevant) memes? Drop me a line at sarcasticmathematician @ gmail.com (email address broken to hopefully reduce the amount of crawler-generated flotsam that appears in my inbox) and I'll (maybe) reply in a reasonable* amount of time.
> 
> *the word "reasonable" is hereby defined as "whenever the hell I get around to it, schedule permitting" (what can I say, I'm a busy dude!)


	14. Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to drop some exposition on what exactly has happened to Kiri, and what that means for our story.
> 
> We'll also do another flashback, but this one's rather roundabout.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mother: Friend
> 
> In which Damien and Kiri discuss Richard's future, and Richard returns from his sabbatical to find that disaster has struck in his absence.

**Friend - Chapter 1**

Damien woke with a start.  How did someone get in without triggering his alarms?

The answer quickly became obvious.  Damien’s senses weren’t slipping - whatever it was that had just come through the wall of his quarters was not physically present.

With a flick of his wrist and an elegant spring, Damien blasted the intruder with a Smite and turned a cartwheel off his cot, his sword springing off the wall to land in his outstretched hand.

“Who are you?” he asked the figure as it straightened up after colliding with the wall.  “And why did you just _hit_ the wall if you came _through_ it to get here?”

“You ask a lot of questions,” the figure hissed before launching herself at him again.

Damien calmly leveled his sword at her as she slammed into an invisible wall a few feet in front of him before being thrown back away from him again.  He’d long ago learned to change the direction his Reckoning threw things in, and he’d had years to practice since waking from cryo far earlier than he’d intended.  “A broken record is something I refuse to be. I will not repeat myself.”

“Then you can stand in silence,” she said as another form of her stepped through the wall behind him.

Damien slashed at her, but the blade passed right through her.  Igniting a Smite in his sword hand as he followed through, he tried again, this time connecting.  Both apparitions flickered when he struck one of them with the blow, and suddenly everything made sense.

She seemed very confused when he put his sword away, but by his estimation nothing could have prepared her for his choice to next begin to meditate, turning his back to both of her as he did so.

“Suit yourself,” she muttered before the apparitions charged at him, burying claws deep in his neck…

\- -

Damien’s childhood had been idyllic until the time he boarded the Zariman Ten-Zero with his mother.  It was when the ship had fired up its Fold Engine that everything had gone horribly wrong.

It hadn’t been immediately apparent that anything was wrong - but if any of the passengers had been paying more attention, they’d have noticed the lights flickering in vacant corridors, power fluctuations in forcefields and gravitational control, and a 4-percent decrease in ration size beginning on the third week of the trip.

Damien watched his younger self charge through the halls with some of the other children from his floating meditative position while he waited.  One by one the apparitions appeared, looked around in confusion, then turned to face him. And as they did so, he finally remembered from where he recognized her.

“Welcome back to the Zariman Ten-Zero, Kirian.”

“What is this?” the pair of identical figures asked in unison, their voices blending.  “Why are we here?”

“Because you tried to attack my mind,” he replied.  “And you found out the hard way that I will never be so easily beaten.  Because the Orokin already tried this method during the Old Days.”

“Let me guess,” said Kiri sarcastically.  “They failed?”

Damien shook his head with a sad smile.  “No, they did not. In fact, they succeeded in what they were trying to do remarkably quickly.  They made me repress the memories and undergo a total personality shift to protect myself from the mental strain.”  He gestured around him at the walls of the Zariman hallway as the same group of children charged back the way they’d come with several additions to the group.  “What they weren’t expecting was for my personality to become calm, collected, and intensely honor-focused.”

“So you’re saying it backfired on them?”

“Tremendously.  Once I settled into the new ‘me’, I looked at these memories again from a more... objective viewpoint.  When I did that, I gained some much-needed clarity. I set out to make sure that no one else would have to go through the hell that we did.  Of course, the Empire had other plans once the War began, but that’s neither here nor there.”

“Why are we here?” Kiri repeated.

“I already told you that,” he replied.

“Let me guess.  You aren’t going to repeat yourself.”

“Precisely.”

“Then I suppose I’ll just kill you.”

Damien shrugged.  “I suppose you may.”

“You’re taking this remarkably well for someone who’s about to die.”

“You’re looking remarkably well for someone who’s dead.”

One of the Kiri-shades rushed toward him, only to be abruptly hauled back into place by the other.  “I see where Richard gets his tendency to turn conversations to his advantage,” she said after a moment.

“Do tell,” said Damien.  “I always wondered that myself.”

The shades paused.  “He didn’t get it from you?”

“Quite the contrary, Councillor,” he said, standing.  “I got it from him.” He set off down the corridor, and the shades followed.  “While we’re here, there is something you should see.”

“If you’re going to show me some cliche scene where you help someone who was trying to hurt you, I don’t think I’ll be staying.”

“You don’t have much of a choice,” Damien replied mildly.  “If I’m right about what has happened to you, you won’t be leaving until I say so.”

“Is that so?” Kiri scoffed, snapping her fingers.  With a look of confusion, she snapped her fingers again.

“Having trouble?” He asked, winking at her.  “You’ll find that getting out isn’t so easy. Especially when the shade you left behind in the real world is no longer touching me.”

“How do you know so much about what happened to me?”

“What do you remember about the Zariman?” He asked her.

“I wasn’t on the Zariman,” she answered immediately.  “I was in the second wave of post-emergent replication experiments.”

Damien turned the last corner and stopped, gesturing to a door.  “I am so sorry,” he said simply as the ship lurched to one side.

“For _what_?” she snapped as one of the shades walked through the door.

 _For this_ , said the Zariman as Damien followed.

**Friend - Chapter 2**

Kiri stopped dead.  This wasn’t right. This couldn’t be right.  “That’s…”

“Yes, it is.”  Damien’s voice was calm, angry.  Not angry at her, she noted. Just… quietly furious.  As she watched, Kiri started to realize why. No. Not realize.  Remember. She was starting to remember. No. Not she. They. They were remembering.  All of them.

“All fourteen of them,” he said.  “You and I made sixteen.”

Kiri stared at the scene in front of her, the horror of what was about to happen slowly dawning on her as the memories returned.

The children had begun huddling together when the ship had shaken and they couldn’t find their parents.  That had been a mistake.

The second explosion went off, much closer this time, and Kiri could’ve sworn it was-

 _A grenade_ .  The voice echoed from all around her.   _They hunted their children.  Like animals. They abandoned their duties to me and to each other.  They tore me apart looking for them. Until the children tore them asunder_.  The scene abruptly changed, showing the last surviving adult surrounded by a crowd of disheveled, bloody, frightened children.  And at the center of the crowd was-

“No.”  Kiri’s voice rose in anguish.  “No, why? Why is it him? It’s not fair.  Why is it, whenever I have a bad memory, that it is _always_ him?”

Damien sighed sadly.  “Because he won’t let anyone else break the rules.”

Kiri nodded.  “Even if it meant breaking all of them himself,” she whispered as tears formed in her eyes.

Damien looked startled.  “No,” he said. “That’s not what he does.”

“What?”  Kiri half-shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the child whose spear was mere microns from the man’s throat.  “How is that- how is he not breaking any rules?”

“Kiri.”  Damien’s voice was soothing as he calmly put his hand on her shoulder.  “He’s not playing the same game.”

Kiri stifled a sob as Richard drove the spear through the man’s neck.

\- -

“I’d offer you a drink, but you can’t exactly eat anything at the moment.”  Damien had brought her back out of his mind, and they were now sitting in his living room.

“I’m not sure I’d have the stomach for it anyway,” she admitted.  “That’s a lot to process, you know?”

“Which part?” he asked.  “The part where Richard saved a mob of terrified children from having to live with the regret or the guilt of killing their parents?  Or the part where fourteen children who just couldn’t cope were dissected, their bodies discarded, and their minds made into Cephalons?”

“Or the part where I tried to get them back, only to end up having their souls poured into my body, pushing all memory of who I was into the farthest corners of my mind, repressed by the literal weight of my sin until just now?”

“Probably that last one.  I suppose you always thought that your being unable to remember your life before that facility was just because the procedure had been abnormal.  But now you remember it all and find out that you were in there because they were watching you torture yourself for months, deciding whether or not to just kill you?  At least now you know why there are so many shades,” he said with a sad smile. “It’s too bad they’ll never get their personalities back. They’re all stuck being fragments of your negative emotions forever.”

“Doesn’t make this any less strange,” she said.  “I don’t know what to do now. I mean, I feel like I’m missing a part of me.”

“You probably _are_.  I only counted three shades.  There were fourteen of them, and you make fifteen.  Who don’t you have?”

Kiri thought.  “Well, there’s “me”, then there’s… wait.  Are they _actually_ the seven deadly sins?”

“How poetic that would be.  But that doesn’t number them all, does it?”

“I have myself, sloth, and… and _power_.”

“So what’s missing?”

“The other twelve vices and virtues.”

“What will you do about it?”

“Nothing.  I’m _done._ Damien, I’m _dead_.  Literally.  I am finding an Oro-Keeper, I am going to a Barrow, and I am not coming out.  I don’t want to fight them anymore. Especially not after what he told Cas about me after I died.”

“Is that an admission of misjudgment I here?  From the great Kirian Kolsynski?”

She sighed.  “It’s an admission of defeat, Damien.  I tried so hard to be the best at what I do.  And there he goes - lobbying for a posthumous commendation for someone his girlfriend killed without batting an eye.”

“‘Rule 35.’”

“What?”  Now it was Kiri’s turn to be surprised.

“‘Always remember to wear pants.’”  Damien chuckled. “It’s what he would say right now.”

“Is that supposed to make sense?”

“I don’t think anything he says is ever intended to be fully understood.  But it’s always supposed to explain _something_.”

“Like how you showing me what happened on the Zariman helped me to remember who I was before I became the woman Lydia killed?”

“Or like how him playing by his own set of rules makes it impossible for anyone but him to ever truly know what the end goal is.”

Kiri sighed.  “None of this makes a damned bit of sense.”

“Not everything has to.”

“True.  But maybe I want closure.  Maybe I want to know why I am the way I am.  Maybe I don’t think this is an adequate way for my story to end.  Maybe I wish I could just walk into a room where everything would be revealed _without_ having to be traumatized by it.”

“Maybe,” he interrupted, “real life is just too damned complicated to express with words.  Either you had to be there, or you have to see into the mind of God. Whatever the reason, Kiri, you’re just gonna have to deal with it.”

“You’ll warn him, won’t you?” she asked.

“If you’re sure you don’t want to do it yourself.”

“I am.”

“Very well,” he said.  “I’ll warn him for you.”

**Friend - Chapter 3**

Richard had known from the beginning that staying off the grid forever was impossible.  Luckily, he’d finished the work.

It hadn’t taken long for him to make the decision.  And as Katherine would say, “it doesn’t take a medical scanner to see that [his] pulse is elevated.”  The time-consuming part was not using any of his contacts or hiding places. Going back to the basics wasn’t fun or easy, but it never failed - especially when he used of the cover aliases Darrin had yet to associate with him directly.  Each time he used one, Darrin would find it almost immediately, Richard knew, but for now it was enough that Darrin knew when to leave him alone.

Either that or the fact that Darrin had met one of his cover IDs at a High Council meeting.  Richard was pretty sure that Darrin wasn’t on to that one yet, and he’d ditched the Eye a few transports back.  His Arbiter would no doubt have words for him later, but Richard would just point out that he hadn’t destroyed it this time.  It wasn’t like anything super-important was going on, anyway - after all, he still had an incoming comm on him at all times, in case something did happen.

 _Speak of the devil_ , he thought as his comm chirped.  Pulling up the menu, he paused. That name couldn’t be correct.  His hand hovered over the “open” button as he considered the possibilities.

“Operator?”

“Hmm?”

“You have been standing still for ten minutes.  Are you going to read the message?” Richard looked around.  Had he really been standing there, debating possibilities for ten minutes?  That wasn’t like him.

Richard shrugged.  “Why not?” He pressed the button, bracing himself for any number of things.

The message was simple.  Just three words, set in the comm’s default font.

_Zariman._

_Thanks._

_-Kiri._

Richard stared.  He’d carefully maintained the charade that he hadn’t met her before Terminus, as had everyone else who’d known her.  It had been for her own good, after all - they all knew what had happened to the others. All they could do was watch sadly as her personality was gradually eroded by the emotions of the other children bleeding into her own.  He’d even deliberately kept Lydia in the dark about the Councillor’s past, all in the attempt to help. It seemed that there wasn’t much point in the fiction now, though. He’d have to clue everyone in as soon as possible.

Richard’s comm beeped again, but a different tone this time.  Whoever it was, it was on a more official frequency. Richard brought up the menu and blinked in surprise.

_Clan Council meeting.  Immediately._

Another message came in immediately.

_Medical anomaly._

“Anomaly?” Richard wondered aloud.  That didn’t sound normal. It certainly wasn’t a misinterpretation on the part of Darrin’s comm system.  The word used had certainly been ‘anomaly’ and not ‘emergency’. What that meant, he had no idea, but if whatever it was warranted an immediate convening of the Clan Council, Richard supposed that his little sabbatical was at an end.

“It’s probably for the best, Operator,” said Ordis as Richard picked up his newly-modified bracelet and boarded his Landing Craft.  “Several things have happened in your absence.”

“Well, then I suppose you’d better catch me up.”

“You received daily communications from Lydia, weekly messages from Katherine and Alaina, and three updates from Lucy.  Damien also sent you a message at around the same time as the one from Kiri arrived. Those correspondences were withheld from your comms per your instructions.  You also received a request from Phenix for cohabitation in your residence there.”

“From whom?” Richard wondered.

“Your brother.”

“Dan’s awake?”

“It would appear so.”

“Well, so much for ‘I’ll be right back’.”  He sighed. “I wonder how long it will be before things are back to normal.”

“Given your definition of normal, Operator, I think it will be quite some time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have (hopefully polite) questions? Have (hopefully relevant) comments? Hell, have any (hopefully at least halfway to quasi-relevant) memes? Drop me a line at sarcasticmathematician @ gmail.com (email address broken to hopefully reduce the amount of crawler-generated flotsam that appears in my inbox) and I'll (maybe) reply in a reasonable* amount of time.
> 
> *the word "reasonable" is hereby defined as "whenever the hell I get around to it, schedule permitting" (what can I say, I'm a busy dude!)


	15. Tenno

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We've skipped the Council meeting that Richard went to after the end of Friend. Since you'll need a recap, I've put one in the Chapter Notes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tenno: Tenno
> 
> In which Sasha begins her training and Richard demonstrates his teaching ability.
> 
> \- -
> 
> Remember Sasha from Candles? Well, she did something pretty stupid.
> 
> She survived the Void, and wondered why that was. So, like any other curious, intelligent young woman would, she did some research.  
> As it turns out, because of her Orokin heritage and a few other factors, it was quite possible that she might gain powers similar to those of the Tenno if she was exposed to enough Void energy again.
> 
> Some time later, while on a mission that brought her and her comrades into close proximity with the Void, she made a brash, impulsive, and reckless decision - she charged directly into the Void, leaving her place in the formation exposed. This decision nearly cost her comrades their lives in addition to nearly killing her again. Katherine healed her, but the resulting cellular damage was only repairable because Sasha succeeded in her goal of altering her genetic structure.
> 
> The Tenno High Council, while acknowledging that her physiology had become like that of a Tenno, refused to acknowledge her as kin because she didn't ascribe to their code of honor, citing as proof her dereliction of duty. Due to Miraalan's close involvement with the government of Phenix and Sasha's connections therein (Sasha is Chancellor Melanie's sister), Arbiters Ryoko and Darrin managed to successfully argue for Sasha to be placed in Miraalan's custody for observation, rehabilitation, and a list of other punitive measures prescribed by the High Council.
> 
> Her success also triggered a few arguments among the Councillors. Should a project be undertaken to attempt to create more Tenno-like individuals, just as Sasha had done? Should Sasha be thrown back into the Void until she died and the official record amended to say that she had not succeeded, to discourage others from making the same foolish attempt? That debate still continues, but for now Sasha is in Miraalan's care, and her sentence is thus as harsh (or as lenient) as the Arbiters care to make it.
> 
> Take a wild guess as to which option the Arbiters choose when the options are "be extremely harsh with someone who's essentially a family friend" or "give a raging middle finger to the entire High Council - again".

**Tenno - Chapter 1**

“Richard, do you have a minute?”  It was Darrin, and someone was with him.  Someone new: the heartbeat was unfamiliar to Richard.

“Certainly.  What can I do for you, Arbiter?”

“I’d like you to meet Sasha.  She’ll be staying with us for a while.”

“I see.  It’s good to see you again, Tenno.”

“I’m not-“

“Sasha is not a Tenno, Richard.”

“Is that what she told you?”

“I’m not!  I was a guardsman until I left my post to enter the Void.”

“She’s not a Tenno.  Yet,” Darrin clarified.

“Then I prefer to be positive and assume she’s going to reach our level of expertise.”

“You’re in a good mood today, Richard.”

“If by ‘good mood’ you mean I haven’t pissed anyone off by walking into the room, then yes, I suppose I am.”

“I’m going to choose not to comment on that and instead continue showing her the rest of the Dojo.”

“Fair enough.  See you around, Sasha.”

\- -

Turned out the higher-ups were none too pleased with Sasha for jumping the gun on the whole Void-transforms-you thing.  Miraalan was therefore ordered to put her through a punishment regimen that would include “no less than fifteen ongoing tasks or training exercises in various fields” designed to physically and mentally exhaust her.  Richard approved of the idea that it would take work to fully realize her powers, but he didn’t like the decision to make the punishment overly excessive.

A point which he made clear to Darrin.  “I’ll teach her, but I will not be cruel.”

“We don’t want you to be cruel.  We want you to teach her discipline.”

“She already has discipline.”

“Not like us.  You need to help her fight like one of us.”

“Of _that_ you can be assured.”

\- -

“… combat training,” Darrin finished as he opened the door.

“With _Richard_?”

“Yes.”

“But he’s the _healer_!”

“ _Katherine_ is the healer.  Richard is the _medic_.”

“Same thing.”

“Both Richard and Katherine would disagree with you there.  In fact, that may be one of only two things they can agree on.”

“What’s the other one?”

Richard turned around to face them.  “No one dies on our watch. _Ever_.”  Darrin left the room.

“So they’re making you teach me because you can fix any injuries I give you, right?”  She was talking tough because she didn’t want to be here, Richard knew, not because she thought she was better than him.

“They’re not _making_ me do anything.  I always teach Neophytes how to fight.”

“So you’re here to fix _me_ up, then,” she said sarcastically.

“I am here to teach you the way Tenno fight.  You are here to become a master of gun and blade and to hone your skills as a disciplined warrior.”

“So you’re here to teach me to use a Warframe to fight?  That’s rich, coming from Trinity.”

Richard chose to ignore the dig at his frame.  She’d see how wrong she was soon enough. “No. No Warframes.  A Warframe is not a weapon. A Warframe is not a tool. A Warframe is not a suit of armor.  A Warframe is-“

“A bioorganic, mechatronic enhancement suit of protoarmor that amplifies and channels the wearer’s natural abilities while also providing additional armor, shielding, regenerative capabilities, and a limited stamina boost.”

“Part of you,” Richard finished as though he hadn’t been interrupted.  “A Warframe is life. A Warframe is death. A Warframe is not what you wear.  A Warframe is what you are.”

“I thought you were Tenno.”

“We are.  But when we step into the Warframe, we become something else.  Something better. Something more noble.”

“There’s nothing _noble_ about being a living weapon.”

“Tenno are not living weapons.  We are people, just like you, who have been forced into this war whether we want to fight in it or not.  So for now, yes, we are fighting. But when this war is over, we will have no need for fighting.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that when you fight, you yourself are the weapons.”

“You don’t seem to have a very high opinion of us.”

“You rely on your powers to save you rather than your weapons.”

“Then why did you want to become a Tenno?”

“I want to be something more than human.  I want to fight.”

“Then why do you condemn the Tenno?”

“Where were the Tenno when Sargas Ruk burned my home?  Where were you when he killed my parents?”

“Where was humanity when the Grineer scorched the Earth?  Where were you when the Infested ravaged the system?”

She paused.  “I am sorry. You are right.”

“I made no assertion of fact or opinion.  But I’m glad you see my point.”

“So, why _are_ you my teacher?”

“Two reasons, but one of those is politics and you’d find the specifics of that arrangement offensive.  Do not ask me to explain. The _other_ reason is because you and I are best suited to work together out of all the available Clan members capable of competently instructing someone in the art of combat.”

“That was too many words.”

“I could have used more.”

“How long will I be in training with you?”

“Until I have nothing more to teach you.  And even then, you will still spar with me or other Clanmates often.  Before we begin your training, I’m going to ask you some questions. Answer as honestly as you can.”

“Okay.”

“Who are the Grineer?”

“The enemy.” she said almost before he finished speaking.

“Anything else?”

She thought for a second.  “They’re clones.”

“Okay, then.  Who are the Corpus?”

“Arrogant and misguided profiteers with no morality.”

Quite.  “What are the Infested?”

“A fool’s mistake once, the enemy now.”

That boiled it down a little bit much, but wasn’t inaccurate if you looked at it objectively.  “Who are the Corrupted?”

“Anything that was left on a ship that went into the Void that isn’t a Tenno.”

Not entirely accurate, but close enough - provided the ship in question had a Neural Sentry.  “Who is Cephalon Simaris?”

“An old AI who seeks to reclaim and restore the Orokin’s knowledge of the physical.”

And more than likely a future enemy, but that was a much more… _nuanced_ debate.  “Who are Steel Meridian?”

“The Army.  Brash and impulsive.”

“Like every child who grows up confused by the unfairness of the universe.”

“It isn’t confusing.  It’s just unfair how unfair things are.”  She talked the way he did when intentionally trying to make someone frustrated with him.  Ryoko referred to this tactic as ‘going Loki’. He decided he liked her.

“Who are the Arbiters of Hexis?”

“Proponents of strength and knowledge through combat.  They seek to better the Tenno by making them better warriors.”

“Not them.  Us. You are Tenno.”

“Not _yet_ , I’m not,” she said with a note of bitterness.

“ _Yes_ yet, you _are_.  You just need time to learn what you are capable of now.”

“Really?” she sounded surprised at his words.

“Yes.”

“Darrin doesn’t seem to agree.”

“Darrin, like the rest of us, is hesitant to believe someone can just ‘become’ a Tenno, the way you have.”

“But you’re different?”

“No.  Like I said when Darrin poked his head into my room, I prefer to assume you will succeed.  Not because I want you to succeed, although I don’t want you to fail. Because I know you won’t stop trying until you have succeeded or died trying, and I also know that you are a part of this Clan now, so dying in combat is impossible.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because no one dies on my watch.   _Ever_!”

“Ohh-kay.  Was that all your questions?  You didn’t finish the Syndicates.”

“It was not.  The Syndicates are not the end, either.  Who is Cephalon Suda?”

“An AI who wishes to know everything there is to know about everything there is to know about.”

And a daily source of Osprey parts for Richard.  Plus one for the answer he’d have given, as well.  “Who are the Perrin Sequence?”

“The privateers, the Skoom.  They seek only that which brings them the most coin.”

A rather simplistic view, but she wasn’t technically wrong.  “Who are the Red Veil?”

“The ninjas, black night assassins.  They seek to advance their cause through subterfuge and espionage.”

Also ideological crusaders who cared little for who or what got caught up in the collateral or crossfire.  “Who are New Loka?”

“The druids, guardians of nature.  They seek to better the Tenno through ‘purification’ of all those who are ‘unclean’.”

“And who decides who or what is unclean?”

“You’d have to ask them, but I usually agree with what they have to say about the people who try to kill us.”

“Who is the Lotus?”

“The Sentient who saved the Tenno rather than destroy them.  She serves as mother and guide.”

“Who is Teshin?”

“Father-figure to the Tenno.  He believes in healthy competition between Tenno to improve our effectiveness against our enemies.”

She used the word ‘our’ that time, he noted.  “Who am I?”

“You are Richard.”

“Not my name.  My being. My duty, my job, my effectiveness.”

“You are a Tenno.  Your duty is to liberate the Origin System from the Grineer, Corpus, and Infested, and to eradicate the Corrupted.  Your job in this Clan is that of medic. You have never lost anyone in battle, nor will anyone be lost while you are with them and there is breath in your body.”

 _She was almost right_ , he thought sadly.  “Thank you for your confidence in my ability.  And who are you?”

“My name is Sasha.  I am a Tenno. I will liberate the Origin System from the Corpus and Infested, and I will eradicate the Grineer and the Corrupted.  My job in this Clan is not yet determined, and I will serve and protect my fellow Tenno until there is no longer breath in my body.”

“Good.  Now, have you ever used a Simulacrum before?”

“No, but I’m familiar with the concept.”

“I’ll skip the explanation of how it works, then.  From this station, you can program any environment and any enemy the Clan has a full Codex entry for.  The maximum number of enemies that can be active at any one time is 20, unless an Arbiter gives permission to alter the settings.  The system itself can handle up to about 126 Corpus, 217 Grineer, or 483 Infested before it starts to lag.”

“Okay.”

“Meet me here at 0800 tomorrow morning.  Do you have a skana?”

“Yes.”

“Bring it.”

**Tenno - Chapter 2**

He was meditating when she walked in.  “Good morning, Sasha.” He put his feet down.

She had the skana in one hand, the blade resting on her shoulder.  “So, how exactly is this going to work?”

“Your training each day will begin and end with a Simulacrum simulation.”

“Like a warm-up and cool-down.”

“If you like.  Stand in the center of the room, please.”  She did. “Begin.”

\- -

She was an energetic study, which helped immensely with the more mundane aspects of teaching.  She took his critique about stance and posture in stride and made adjustments on the spot. She’d already defeated the maximum spawn rate for 20-minute semi-endless hordes of all four enemy types, and they’d only been at it a week.  “You learn well, Sasha. The Simulacrum has nothing more to teach you about your enemies. It is time for me to teach you about your weapons.”

“Does this mean I’m fighting you now?”

“Not yet.”

“You don’t think I’m ready?”

“To fight me, when you’ve never seen my combat style, don’t know my preferred weapons, and without any idea of how to defend yourself?  No, you’re not ready.”

“I want to try.”

“Very well.  Attack me.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“You’re unarmed.”

“Sasha, if I actually _need_ a weapon to fight you, weapons training is over.”

“What comes after weapons training?”

“Combat training.   _Real_ combat training.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.”  She lunged.

\- -

“I _did_ tell you that you weren’t ready.”

“I was unprepared, that’s all!”

“Exactly.  Without preparation, how can you fight?  How can you beat an enemy you do not know?”

“Now that I’ve seen you fight, I can beat you.”

“You are not ready, Sasha.”

“You calling me incapable?”

“If I was calling you incapable, I would have said exactly that.  You are perfectly capable of besting me in single combat. But without discipline, you will not be able to control your reflexes well enough to be a match for me.  It’s not that you _can’t_ , because you have the ability.  You just need to become used to that ability, so you may unlock its full potential.  I have years of experience with my abilities, Sasha. If you want to beat me, you must first learn how to use your new abilities to fight the way a Tenno fights.  The way I fight. The way you will fight when your training is finished.”

“So I’m young, is that what you’re telling me?”

“You _are_ young.”  She looked as though she was going to say something, but stopped herself.  He went on, silently noting approval of her choice to not say anything. “Age isn’t everything, though.  In terms of raw ability, you and I are very close. Without Warframes we should be a roughly even match. Since I’ve been using Warframes a long time, I’ve started to display traits embodied by those frames.  I have increased agility like Zephyr, and my natural healing is improved because I use Trinity. The main difference between us is your muscle memory does not take your abilities into account. You are here to retrain your brain, to make your instincts work with your new abilities, and to allow you to reach a level of combat prowess you could never have had as a human.   When we are finished here, Sasha, you and I will both be better.”

“How will _you_ get better?  All you’re doing is teaching me ‘control’ and showing me how use the weapons I’m not familiar with.”

“The only good teacher is one who is always willing to learn, and if you are a good student, you will teach me something in return.”

“Like what?”

Richard laughed.  “Everyone asks that.  Honestly? I have no idea.  But I know I will learn something.  Because the only way I learn something is if I have nothing more to teach.  So until I learn something from you, I know I still have more to teach you.”

\- -

Sasha’s reflexes improved greatly in the next five weeks.  Eventually, she was able to keep pace with him in the Simulacrum’s agility course.  He began sparring with her using the various weapons in his arsenal and teaching her advanced techniques without telling her exactly what it was she was learning.  By the tenth week of training, Sasha could competently make use of every melee weapon in the arsenal she could physically lift.

“Do you think you are ready to try again?” he asked her for the fifth time since she first tried.

“No,” she answered for the first time.  “But I _will_ try.”

“Finally realized how much you don’t know, have you?  That’s the first time you’ve admitted you don’t think you’re ready to fight me.”

“I’ve sparred with you five times, Richard.  The result has always been the same. I may be a little overconfident at times, but I am no fool.”

“And yet, it seems, you are still unsure of yourself.”  He readied his skana.

“I am only unsure of how much more there really is for me to learn.”  She parried his strike.

“Then you have finally learned the only lesson that no one can teach you.”  He blocked her thrust.

“Does that mean we’re done here?” she asked as she somersaulted over him.

“No, it does not,” he replied.  “ _That_ , however, does,” he added as the point of her sword touched his chest at the same moment his touched hers.  “Well done, Sasha.”

“You’re holding out on me, Richard.”

“Sasha, I’m not in a Warframe.  My personal style depends on my Warframe’s abilities to achieve the most effectiveness.  Without the perks they provide, I am merely an accomplished shinobi.”

“What do we do now?”

“ _I_ take a week off.   _You_ go to Earth and run missions alone, with only a melee weapon.”

**Tenno - Chapter 3**

“Good morning, Sasha.”

“Good morning, Richard.”

“Are you ready to begin your _real_ training?”

“You say I am.”

“Modesty?  From Sasha?” Richard smiled.  “That’s new.”

“You’ve taught me more than how to fight.  I’ve been watching you with our Clanmates as you return from missions.  You don’t boast as often as they say you used to.”

“There is no need to remind the Clan of my abilities anymore.  They all know what I say is true.”

“Yes, but you used to be very vocal about your abilities, sometimes to the point of jumping up to fill a party of three who were going somewhere dangerous.”

“I enjoy going on missions.”

“Those solo missions you sent me on?  They got me thinking.”

“About what?”

She faltered.  “Never mind.”

“Oh, no you don’t.  You said something, Sasha.  You would not have said anything if it wasn’t bothering you.”

“I don’t know if I can keep doing this, Richard.”

“Why not?  You’re doing exceptionally well.”

She sighed, then sat.  “It’s Sai’ah.”

He crossed the room and sat next to her.  “She’s your niece, right?”

“Yes.  I don’t want to just leave Melanie to take care of her alone.”

“Then why are you here at all?”

“I _had_ to leave her.”

“Why?”

“I left my post.  I ran into the Void.  This is the consequence.”

“Sasha, why did you leave your post?”

“What?”  She almost yelled, immediately on the defensive.

“Why did you run into the Void if it meant you might never have made it back to Melanie and Sai’ah?”

She thought for a moment.  “Because I needed to become stronger.  To defend their future from the Grineer.”

“And what are you learning here?”

“How to fight.”

“You are here because you want your sister and niece to be safe.  You are here because you want to make sure that no one ever hurts them.  Right?”

“I guess.”

“Sasha, you made a decision to abandon your post.  You should have died for that. You should have died in the Void.  But you didn’t. Do you know why?”

“No.  No one does.”

“You survived because your choice was made out of desperation and a need to protect your family.  Everyone’s made mistakes in their life, and I’ve probably made more than most. There was a time when I was unable to use Trinity.  I couldn’t access her powers, and I could barely keep moving forward.”

“Why?”

“Because I made a mistake.  But I realized something that let me retake control of my life and use Trinity again.”

“What was it?”

“ _Everyone_ makes mistakes.  And sometimes the punishment we give ourselves is worse than anything anyone else could do.  But everyone deserves a second chance. Everyone deserves the opportunity to prove that we can learn from our mistakes and become better people.  This is _your_ second chance, Sasha.  Right here, right now, you have a chance to be better.  To do better. To take what you’ve learned from your life and use your new abilities to make things right.”

“How do I make things right?”

“What happened when you abandoned your post?   _Not_ what happened to you,” he added when she started to answer.  “What happened to everyone else?”

“I wasn’t there to do my job, so my job didn’t get done.  They nearly _died_ getting everyone out of there because my lane wasn’t kept clear.  Meanwhile, I’m off in the Void for who knows how long and they’re stuck dealing with the casualties of my mistake.  Richard, I was top of my class! I threw everything away on a stupid, impulsive decision. I lost everyone’s respect.”

“And yet you are here.”

“Only because Ryoko was ordered to keep me here by the council.”

“Ryoko agreed to let you stay here because I was going to leave if he didn’t.”

“Why?”

“Because no one deserves to feel the hate you receive for the mistake you made.”

“Why are you so adamant about my giving myself a second chance?”

“Because I never gave myself one.”

“What mistake did you make that was so horrible?”

He couldn’t go back now.  She’d told him her problems.  To tell her his would earn her respect as a teacher, because he was willing to admit he wasn’t perfect.  And to be honest, it would feel good to finally tell someone. Of course, this meant he’d have to tell Lydia later today.  “It was on Phobos. We were going after Vay Hek. There were eight of us, and I lost them all.”

“That wasn’t your fault.”

“But it _was_ !   _I_ was Trinity.   _I_ was the healer.  It was _my job_ to keep them alive!”

“You kept telling yourself that it was your fault, that you couldn’t save anyone, that you weren’t a good medic.”  She must have seen the pain in his eyes, because her expression changed from surprise to empathy. “But Richard, you’ve never lost anyone since.  You’re the best medic I know, and at the end of the day everyone here trusts you with their life.”

“I know I ‘moved past it’ back then, but I don’t know if I can move past it completely that quickly after all this time, Sasha.”

“So don’t try to.  Grieve for them. Properly.  But don’t dwell on them. They’re in a better place now anyway.”

“What about you?”

“I can’t just ignore what I’ve done!  I let everyone down! What do I do, Richard?”

“Everyone else says that you’re an impatient, bullheaded traitor who will never be worthy of anyone’s respect again.”

“So?”

“Prove them wrong.”

**Tenno - Chapter 4**

They found Ryoko where he usually was: in Duel Room A, sparring with whoever happened to be there.  Today it was Darrin. “Ryoko!” Richard called. Both lowered their swords and turned to look at him.  “Sasha has something she would like to say to you.” Sasha moved across the room and stood in front of Ryoko.

“I don’t expect you to forgive me for what I did, but I want you to know that I will do everything in my power to make things better.  I promise to uphold and defend the Tenno and this Clan until there is no longer breath in my body.”

Ryoko was silent for a moment.  “Are you willing to make that pledge in front of the Clan?”

“I am.”

“Then let us waste no time.  Richard?”

“Yes, Arbiter.”  He walked over and thumbed the button for the universal comms on the wall.  “Now hear this, Miraalan: Richard speaking for Ryoko and Darrin. Clan meeting in the Grand Assembly in five.  Be there, or miss something important.”

\- -

“As all of you know,” Ryoko began, “Sasha has been staying with us following her emergence from the Void.  Her medical evaluation by Katherine indicated that she is indeed a Tenno. She has completed the trials prescribed to her by the Tenno High Council, and is currently receiving combat training from Richard.  Everyone she has worked with has rated her as an exemplary study and a hard-working, respectful individual. She has something she would like to say to you all.” Sasha stepped forward from between him and Darrin.

“I don’t expect you to forgive me for what I did, but I want you to know that I will do everything in my power to make things better.  I promise to uphold and defend the Tenno and this Clan until there is no longer breath in my body. I will put aside fear for courage, and death for life, when it is right to do so.  I will be the sword through the fire and the shield that guards the innocent. I lay no claim to fame or fortune given me in my past life, and I will share any and all I earn from this day forth with you, my new family.  This is my promise. This is my life." She paused, taking a deep breath. "May others who see me say not ‘There walks Sasha, daughter of Nia, hero of New Eden,’ but ‘There walks Sasha of Clan Miraalan, Sister of the Tenno’.”

Darrin produced a blank scroll and held it up.  “So let it be written; so let it be done.”

There was a pause, then someone in the back began clapping.  A few others joined immediately, and after a few seconds the entire clan was applauding her.  Richard caught Tak’s eye, and Tak winked at him. Richard smiled. Sasha would do well here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have (hopefully polite) questions? Have (hopefully relevant) comments? Hell, have any (hopefully at least halfway to quasi-relevant) memes? Drop me a line at sarcasticmathematician @ gmail.com (email address broken to hopefully reduce the amount of crawler-generated flotsam that appears in my inbox) and I'll (maybe) reply in a reasonable* amount of time.
> 
> *the word "reasonable" is hereby defined as "whenever the hell I get around to it, schedule permitting" (what can I say, I'm a busy dude!)


	16. Tempered Steel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remember when I promised that we'd get to finding out what Richard did between waking up and joining Miraalan eventually?
> 
> That's coming in the next Arc. We needed Sasha's subplot to be finished first, and now that it is we'll do some more flashbacks, starting with Angel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tenno: Tempered Steel
> 
> In which Sasha completes her training and officially joins Miraalan, thus sidestepping the punitive measures of the High Council by becoming recognized as a Tenno by a Clan and adding another middle finger to the long list of middle fingers that Miraalan's Arbiters have given the rest of the Councillors.

**Tempered Steel - Chapter 1**

“What are we doing today?”

“Discussing your training schedule.  This stage is not just about me teaching you how to fight enemies with different weapons than your own.  You must also find your own unique combat style and determine exactly how you will fight using your Tenno abilities.  It goes without saying that your style will be best suited to a particular weapon. Therefore, you must decide which weapon you will use the most often.  You will want to find a wide-reaching strategy that you can carry into any Warframe. Because I cannot teach you how you will fight, you will be spending one day each week in solo training. Which day that is is entirely up to you.”

“Wednesday."

“Wednesday it is.  Mondays and Thursdays you will meet me here in Duel Room C for proper combat training.  Tuesdays and Fridays you will enter the Conclave with me. Saturdays you will be in the Simulacrum with myself and CALC for tactics training.”

“Today is Thursday.”

“Indeed it is, and we are in Duel Room C.  Take a skana.”

“How is this any different from what we did before?”

“I told _you_ to take a skana.   _I_ will be using _this_.”  He hefted his Galatine and balanced the blade on his shoulder in the same posture she had worn when she first walked into training.

“ _What_ ,” she said slowly, looking at the sword, “is _that_?”

“ _This_ is a Galatine.  Specifically, _my_ Galatine.”

“How much does it weigh?”

“More than your skana.  Now, hit me, before I hit you.”

\- -

She caught on quick.  Richard found himself having to blend stances within two hours of beginning the lesson.  He’d thought it would take her at least a day to work out a strategy for getting close enough to worry him against the longest sword the Tenno had, but her ability to think on her feet continued to surprise him.

Eventually it became apparent that neither of them was going to land a blow.  “What is the only problem with this situation, Sasha?”

“If this was really a fight to the death, assuming all other things being equal, including our Warframes, whoever has backup arrive first wins.”

“Not quite.  The Galatine will win even if your backup arrives first.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because if there’s two of you, I can afford to swing Galatine in a wider circle, which makes a whole branch of attack combos I can’t use against one target completely viable again.”

“I never thought about that.”

“Neither did I until I faced one in Conclave.  Speaking of, you’ll see this again tomorrow.”

“So now that I know how to fight it, we’re going to do scenarios with different objectives than just ‘hit me’?”

“Exactly.  On Monday, I’ll introduce a different scenario of unbalanced weapons and we’ll repeat the process.”

“Okay.  See you tomorrow!”

\- -

“Take the Cephalon.”

“Shouldn’t _I_ be defending from _you_?  You’ve only got a dagger this time.”

“Why should _you_ be defending the Cephalon?   _I’m_ standing next to it.  The point isn’t for you to attack or defend, it’s for you to learn how to use whatever weapon you have against every other type of weapon I could be holding in a variety of situations.  Next week we’ll get into the nitty-gritty of who is doing what when, but for now all I’m teaching you are the two most general lessons: smaller weapon and larger weapon. Once you master the strategies for these two types of conflicts, you’ll be able to apply them to any encounter you have without having to think.  That’s also part of your training: taking the general lessons I teach you and applying them to the specific circumstances I place you in.”

"So right now we're still doing the general lesson?"

"The second one, yes.  Starting Thursday we'll begin the tests with three points."

" _Three_ points?  You sure you didn't just add one there?"

"One for correctly interpreting what your objective is.  Another for working out a strategy that applies one of the general lessons you've learned.  The third for actually accomplishing the objective and reaching the extraction point."

"So we're simulating missions?"

"Some of the tests do.  Others simulate part of a mission or even a mini-mission."

"How will I know what to do in the tests?  We know what a mission is going in."

"True.  But sometimes the mission objective changes while we're doing it.  We have to be ready to improvise at any time."

"And you're saying that we don't know what that change is?"

"Sometimes we don't.  The point of these tests is to make sure you're familiar enough with each class of objective that you can complete a mission blind."

"What if I can't figure it out?"

"There is no mission whose objective is not deception where killing everything you encounter is not an acceptable option.  Even spy missions can be completed by killing everything and then waltzing into the vaults."

"But if it's deception?"

"Deception is sort of exempt from these tests because it's laughably simple.  Deception missions are the joke missions in our books. We do them only because we need the objective completed, not because they're difficult."

"Well, all you're doing is plugging a datamass into their computer."

"All _we're_ doing.  But yes, exactly.  It's not in any way a challenge."

"Sorry.  I keep forgetting I'm one of you now."

"You're new here.  It happens. You just need to remember that as far as the Clan's concerned, you're a Tenno now.  You even fight as one of us."

"I don't think some of them believe I'm capable of that."

"Don't you remember what Ryoko said before you took your Oath?  He told them you were taking combat training from me."

"Yeah, but I'm taking it because I don't fight like you."

"He said COMBAT training.  Everyone here knows what that means.  I've given lessons to a fair few of them."

"So you're saying I fight like a Tenno?"

"Yes.  Combat training isn't about teaching you to fight with your weapons.  It's about teaching you to fight with your _head_ .  You've learned everything I have to teach you about _how_ to fight.  Now, you have to learn to think about the _battlefield_ the way **we** do.  Learn that, and you'll both see why we're so effective in combat and become that effective yourself."

"So my tests will start in medias res?  GOT THE CEPHALON!!" She'd been walking toward him for a while now, and she'd just darted past him and grabbed it.

"Yes, they will.  And congratulations on passing your secret test."

"What?"

"I won't say I let you do that, because I really didn't.  But you were supposed to win by that means at some point during these sessions."

"What, by keeping you distracted?"

"A distracted enemy is not combat-ready and can therefore be easily beaten."

"Do I get a secret prize?"

"Yes."

"What is it?"

"It's a secret."

“I hate you,” she said with a smile.

**Tempered Steel - Chapter 2**

Over the next three weeks Richard had her go through every possible combination of differing weapons between the two of them that the Arsenal would allow, and she never failed to work out how to beat him within the hour.  In Conclave, she'd learned all the settings within the first week and was using the secret passages to catch him by the end of the second. He was going to move on to multiple persons training when she called for a stop during cooldown one Friday.

"What the hell, Richard!"

"Is there a problem, Sasha?"

"You're pandering me!"  Uh-oh. She must have figured out he'd been holding out on her in the dagger v ninkondi simulations.  In his defense, she'd _never_ have beaten him if he hadn't chosen to limit his usage of the nunchucks to one-handed combos.

"How have I done so?"

"This cooldown is a JOKE!  You're making it easy because you think I had a rough day!"  Oh. Well, at least _this_ one he could deny without lying.

"Sasha, come here a minute.  I want to show you something."

"What?" she growled, marching over to him.

"Look at the settings panel.  This is set to the hardest difficulty available without _both_ the Arbiters’ override."

"But I-"

"You're just that good."  Richard smiled. "I was going to surprise you on Monday, but I'll give you the good news now.  Phase I of combat training is over. From now on, you will no longer be doing warm-ups or cool-downs.  Your schedule will also be altered. You will now have two days a week to yourself."

She relaxed as he spoke, and answered immediately.  "Tuesday-Thursday."

"Very well.  Mondays you will enter Conclave with myself and two other Clanmates.  We will then be doing team Cephalon training. Tuesdays you will practice whatever you choose, though I suggest you work on Grineer spy missions, specifically on the part where you _don't_ kill them unless they're in the vault: you've been taking too long to finish.  Wednesdays you will be with myself and CALC in the Simulacrum for more advanced tactics training with simulated allies that you will command.  Thursdays you have to yourself, and I would suggest calisthenics workouts for at least two hours. Fridays you will enter Conclave with myself and others, and we will heave team Deathmatch.  On Saturday you will report to me in the Simulacrum, and I will explain the nature of those special lessons when you arrive on Saturday if you do not immediately understand what we'll be doing.  As for tomorrow, take the day off."

"Will I get to choose my teammate for the Conclave matches from the other people?"

"Conclave chooses for you, and the teams are shuffled randomly after every match.  You could have the same teammate five times in a row or it could cycle every time."

"Oh, okay.  See you Monday!"  She bounced out of Conclave, humming "I Stole the Cephalon".

**Tempered Steel - Chapter 3**

Richard's posted notice that the Dojo’s Conclave was once again open during the popular training hours, albeit only to two persons plus himself and Sasha, was met with much appreciation.  He made sure to point out to everyone who mentioned it to him that it was Sasha they should thank: after all, if she hadn't finished Phase I of combat training, he'd still have to keep Conclave reserved for the two of them during the midafternoon hours two days a week.

Monday rolled around, and the first two to show up were Tak and Vahlin.  Richard entered the no-energy override into the system to compensate for Sasha's lack of a Warframe, much to Vahlin's chagrin.  "No energy?! Then what's the point of Conclave?"

"This is still training for Sasha, Vahlin.  Today is her first time doing anything with another Tenno on her team."

"So she hasn't found a Warframe yet?"

"Keep your voice down!  I don't want her suspecting what's coming on Saturday."

"Oh, you haven't started _any_ of that yet?  She's gonna have so much fun!"

"Fun doing what?" Sasha asked as she walked in.

"This Conclave match." Richard replied, turning to face her.  "We're with Vahlin and Tak today."

"I brought the armor you gave me last week.  Will I need it?"

"Very heads-up thinking, Sasha.  Yes, you will. We're running no energy today as part of your training.  It's still a tactics and teamwork lesson."

"I see.  Who's my first teammate?"

"That would be Tak."

"He's our resident Oro Keeper, right?"

"Yes.  He is also our most prominent Nekros, as well as one of your biggest supporters here before your Oath."

"He's the one who gave me a _four-hour_ lecture on duty and rules!"

"He's an Oro Keeper.  That's kind of his **job**."

"I still don't believe you."

"Who do you think started clapping first?"

" _No_..."

"Ee-yup.  Go say hi.  He's actually a really friendly guy if you don't start the conversation with 'hey, Tak, I screwed up real bad'."

"Amusing, Richard."

"I aim to please.  Now shoo. Go talk strategy."

"Speaking of strategy," Vahlin said as she walked over to Tak, "what's ours?  With no energy, Ember's a fragile little thing."

"So's Trinity," Richard pointed out.  "Which is why I'll be using Zephyr in Conclave, like I always do."

"Is she expecting that?"

"Nope.  But she'll probably assume it's you."

"I brought Zephyr as well in case someone ran Frost.  Ember's not so good at surviving being bubbled."

"Yeah, that.  I have Frost with me as well."

"Seriously?"

"Dude, I have all my frames with me.  I'm trying to train Sasha, after all."

"True, that.  Alright, who's attacking?"

"You go.  I have the feeling she'll be attacking as well."

"Okay.  Say, Richard."

"Yes?"

"I’d like to apologize again for my outburst when we first met."

"I've told you a thousand times, Vahlin.  You were entirely justified. And that Fireball you threw was aimed at the charger," he added as Vahlin opened his mouth again.  "I just lost my footing. Honest."

"If you say so."

"I do say so.  Suit up. It's starting."

\- -

An hour and a half later, he was paired with Sasha for the first time.  She'd only won four games so far, and that was when she was paired with Tak.  To be fair, though, she'd only been paired with Tak five times. "Don't be down on yourself, Sasha.  Two Zephyr on one team is unfair, especially with no energy."

"She's got increased agility, right?"

"And a slower fall speed, yes."

"I didn't think about that."

"Ready?"

"Who's attacking?"

"That's up to you."

"We're a team, right?  I defer to seniority."

"This is still training."

"Oh, okay,” she said, thinking.  “I think Tak will defend, and I've killed Vahlin about 20 times today, so you go."

Richard laughed as he pulled up the stats window.  " _20_ times?  That's a bit of an ov- 24 times.  Holy crap. He's probably so pissed off right now!"

"Which is why I'm staying to defend if he's attacking."

"If I see Tak running I'll give chase so we can switch."

"Sounds good to me."

"Have you decided on a preferred weapon set yet?"  He asked as he ran for Moon Cephalon.

"Yes, actually.  I like the Tonkor with Lex Prime and Scindo Prime."

"Interesting.  Any other sets?"

"Now that you mention it, Burston Prime with Castanas and a Nikana's a pretty good one too."

"I only see one problem with that set."

"What's that?  Vahlin's about to respawn, by the way."

"Already?"  Richard laughed.  "He's not having a good day."

"So, problem with loadout?"

"You should be using Sancti Castanas."

"I don't have any, and I can't find any either."

"Should've asked.  I'll stop by Orcus and pick you up a set tomorrow."

"You're with Loka?"

"Sasha, I'm Trinity.  Of COURSE I'm with Loka."

"Huh.  I always figured you'd bought your Sancti Tigris off someone."

"I've actually been the one supplying our Clanmates with them."

"Would _not_ have guessed that."

"I would think you'd realized the ‘no one dies’ connection by now.  I'm halfway back."

"Vahlin and I got each other, but ours isn't back yet."

"Don't leave base, I'll get it.  If Vahlin's behind me he hasn't got a chance."

"Why?"

"There's only one way to our side.  I wait until he passes through the door and then shoot him before getting our point."

"Fair's fair.  But why don't I just get ours, then?"

"Preventative measure in case he somehow gets me.  If you're running back to base after getting ours, he'll shoot you, take it again, and be out before either of us have respawned."

"You're good at this."

"Nah, I just do this a lot.  Plus that exact thing has happened to me before."  BLAM. "Okay, he's down. Your turn to run."

\- -

Friday had them with Darrin, Artis, Finn, and Sarah.  "Okay, people. This will be deathmatch, but no energy.  Sasha's still technically in training." The others nodded understanding.  "Right. First team is Artis, Sarah and me against Darrin, Finn, and Sasha."

She was good at this.  She’d been holding her own pretty well all week.  It came down to the final two points, and Artis and Darrin got into some rather intense sparring on a hard-to-reach platform.  Richard let them be. Sarah and Sasha had been chasing each other around a roughly circular path for a couple of deaths, so that just left him and Finn.

Finn was Chroma, so his armor made him impervious to just a single clip from his Sancti Tigris.  Zephyr, however, would be cut down by anything Finn carried because although she had high health and shields, she lacked armor.  He needed to get above him and fire as he came down, leaving Finn open to a melee finisher.

Richard was fairly adept at getting Zephyr into hard-to-reach places, even without energy.  Finn didn't know this until he received a point-blank Sancti Tigris to the top of the head. Richard's Ninkondi had him off for the respawn point before he could even look up.  Just as Richard collected his Oro, Artis and Darrin killed each other. Richard immediately scaled the wall and scooped up both their Oro for the win.

\- -

"We're choosing my Warframe," Sasha said as soon as she walked in.

"Correct," said Richard, gesturing towards the open Excalibur.  "I thought we'd start with Excalibur, to get you used to using a frame.  Once you've mastered the advantages a frame gives you and learned to use the abilities by reflex, we'll get down to the nitty-gritty of actually selecting a frame."

"Are the abilities controlled by reflexive thought trigger?"

Now Richard was truly impressed.  "Yes, they are. How did you know?"

Sasha Slash Dashed forward, then turned to face him.  "Protoarmor has a shield ability that's controlled the same way."

"I see.  You've already mastered the trigger of the abilities, then.  It's just matter of selecting a Warframe and learning their abilities, then learning how and when to use them."

"I thought 'go', and he did... whatever that was."

" _He_ did nothing.  The ability _you_ just used is his first ability, Slash Dash.  His others are Radial Blind, Radial Javelin, and Exalted Blade."

"Have you ever used Excalibur?"

"I woke from cryo in Excalibur.  But I have worn all the frames and can proficiently make use of any of them in a mission if required.  Well, I’m still a horrible Vauban pilot outside of simulation. But we have Simon for that if we really need him."

"So, how do you use Excalibur well?"

\- -

Over the next few hours, Sasha learned and mastered Excalibur, Mag (crunch), Volt ("Zappa zap zappy!"), Zephyr (with difficulty - "She's so lightweight!"), Trinity (well, not really; she learned how to use the abilities and when to use Blessing and EV, but she didn't use Link on her own and wasn't chaining Well and EV together for the Wombo Combo or EV and Well for Infinite EV), Loki ("He's fast!"), Ash ("easiest spy mission EVER"), Banshee ("I see why Sarah likes her"), and Frost ("NOW I understand the 'tank mage' jokes!").   Richard called for a break while she was trying Atlas. "You've been working a while at this, Sasha. It's time for lunch."

"Wanna figure out the ‘secret’ use for his second!"

"You already have, you're just thinking it isn't that simple."

"What, just boulder and leave it for cover?"

"Bingo."

"Come, on.  That's no secret."

"It was to us when we first found the parts.  He was a tricky one for the first few Tenno to master.  After they did, we all knew."

"Okay, let's do lunch."

\- -

The only frames they hadn't done by the end of the day were Chroma, Ember, Saryn, Oberon, and Nyx.  Richard was fairly sure which of those five Sasha would choose, and he decided to save her for last.

**Tempered Steel - Chapter 4**

The next week, Richard opened the Conclave fully, allowing her to see her first full-team sessions.  "Combat training ends as soon as you select a frame and beat me in a best-of-five solo deathmatch in Conclave," he told her.  "Since this is your first full team session, it will be you with me, Ryoko, and Sarah. We'll be taking on Darrin, Tak, Artis, and Vahlin."

"Okay."

"Ryoko will be leader, and he'll probably send you out left."

"Why?"

"It's the shortest route to their spawn, and you have the largest clip size."

"He's expecting more than one in that direction."

"I'd be surprised if you don't see at least two."

"Is anyone backing me up?"

"Sarah usually stays home in this map when there’s energy because Banshee can blast them off the platform with one scream.  I would normally _also_ stay put during no energy, but I'm Zephyr and this map has some nice pillars."

"Okay.  If I get them all?"

"Keep going.  We're playing timed only."

"Okay."

"Time to go," said Ryoko.  Immediately he, Richard, and Sasha took off in their respective lanes, and Sarah shifted behind a pillar.

\- -

By the time the game was over, Ryoko had 10 kills and 6 Oro.  Sasha, Sarah, and Darrin were tied at 9 kills and 8 Oro each. Tak had 7 kills and 7 Oro, and Vahlin had 6 kills and 8 Oro.  Artis had 6 kills and 5 Oro, and Richard was dead last with 5 kills. However, his collection of 11 Oro powered Moon to a 33-28 victory.  Surprisingly, no one managed to recover any of their teammates' Oro. "Well run, Sasha. You guys up for Cephalon capture?"

"That's no fun without energy," replied Artis.

"You're right," agreed Richard.  "Sasha will have her frame ready for Conclave by next week."

"I will?" asked Sasha.

"You will," Richard assured her.  "I've been saving the frame I know you'll choose for last."

\- -

"So who did you think I would choose?"

"I saved that frame for last.  We have four more to do first."

"I know most of the names, so I know there's Chroma, Ember, Nyx, and if something called Oberon is a Warframe, then that too."

"Very good.  Oberon's the paladin Warframe, and you'll be learning him first."

"Silas was saying to 'steer well clear of whatever planet Richard's heading for if ever he dons the Markhor Helm.'  When I asked why, he said 'Oberon'."

"Markhor is an alternate helmet style for Oberon, and it is the one I prefer."

"Gocha.  What's he do?"

"Kill.  Everything.  In. Range. Oh, and heal you.  But that takes time."

"How so?"

"The heal takes time to reach you and even then it's heal over time.  There's a small instant proc, but not for much."

"So why do you use him?"

"Trinity lacks direct-damage abilities.  If I ever get REALLY pissed, and, mind you, this has only happened once since I joined Miraalan, I don Oberon and then go absolutely _ape shit_ on things."

“What did you do?”

“Remember that one time I smashed a Fomorian into an asteroid?”

" _Show me how he works_."

\- -

She was _really_ liking Nyx.  "You say you saved the best for last, Richard, but I'm liking Artis' frame the best."

"No one in our Clan uses this last frame, which is why I think you haven't heard of her."

"Well, what's she called?"

"Saryn."

**Tempered Steel - Chapter 5**

Sasha chose Saryn.

Richard immediately ran her through the first five Mastery tests in her frame, and she passed with no problems.

"You're even a proficient hacker.  Excellent. I don't have to teach you that."

"We had a good teacher in training."

"So you did.  Now, we go to Conclave.  Your training shall not end until you have beaten me in a three-of-five match."

\- -

He beat her the first time 3-0.

In the second match, though, she switched her strategy after he killed her first.  Stealth won her her first kill, and carelessness on his part gave her the second.

The third time, she played extremely well.  They fired around corners at each other for about ten minutes before Sasha remembered her abilities.  Richard, out of ammo for his shotgun, was taking potshots with Lex when he realized too late that he was shooting at her Moult.  Two bursts from Burston Prime and he was down. Respawning, he caught up with her halfway back to her spawn. "Sasha!"

"Yes?"

"That's three of five.  You beat me."

"What?"

"Did you lose count?  You've passed. Combat training is over."

"You mean I'm cleared to go on missions with the Clan wearing Saryn?"

"Technically, you have to do a formal test before Ryoko or Darrin demonstrating mastery of your frame."  She looked at him, waiting for the explanation that she'd long ago learned to wait for. "Tenno Council's orders, not ours.  S'far as we're concerned, if you could do missions in protoarmor, you can do them in a frame."

"So, when do I take this formality of a test?"

"Right now," said Ryoko, who had just walked in.  "If you'll follow me to the Simulacrum?"

As they walked down the hall, Ryoko spoke to Richard.  "How quickly did she decide on Saryn?"

"After I showed Saryn to her?  About 3 tenths of a second. I showed her Saryn last to make sure she learned all the frames."

"Wise of you.  How did you know she'd choose Saryn?"

"The perfect blend of stealth and ‘kill everything whose name starts with “Grineer”’?  Ryoko, you're implying this was difficult!" Both laughed.

"This test isn't hard, Sasha," Ryoko told her.  "The Council just doesn't believe anyone can ‘become’ a Tenno."

"Okay.  Let's make them regret that belief!"

She easily completed the Council's prescribed test, which was laughably simple.  Ryoko turned to Richard. "You think she's ready?"

In response, Richard walked over to the wall and thumbed the comm button.  "Now hear this, Miraalan: We have a Saryn!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have (hopefully polite) questions? Have (hopefully relevant) comments? Hell, have any (hopefully at least halfway to quasi-relevant) memes? Drop me a line at sarcasticmathematician @ gmail.com (email address broken to hopefully reduce the amount of crawler-generated flotsam that appears in my inbox) and I'll (maybe) reply in a reasonable* amount of time.
> 
> *the word "reasonable" is hereby defined as "whenever the hell I get around to it, schedule permitting" (what can I say, I'm a busy dude!)


	17. Angel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oof, another dialogue-heavy block of text. I promise not everything I write is 80% talking!
> 
> The character of Damien is an homage to a player I met when I first started playing. I dropped into a pub with my brand-new Trinity to do some leveling, and he noticed that I wasn't that good at her and offered to give me some pointers.
> 
> Six hours later, I'd received what I still consider to be the best crash course in video game history. The skills I picked up in that short time still prove useful - it was during that time that I learned how to use the minimap, what the Wombo Combo was, deduced a new strategy for teamwork that I call the Infinite EV (an inverse Wombo Combo), imprinted onto my soul the exact delay between when I press 0 and when the team gets healed (I'm left-handed, so your WASD is my IJKL), and got absurdly good at knowing the difference between someone taking damage because they were being lazy or crowded by Toxic Ancients and someone who was in genuine danger of dying (and when those two weren't mutually exclusive).
> 
> I am forever grateful to Davion (that's not his entire username, just the part that sounds like Damien) for his help and support.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angel: Angel
> 
> In which Richard goes to see friends he left behind, we get a proper introduction to who exactly Damien is, and Richard tags along with a Clanmate on a mission, giving me a chance to foreshadow the continuance of the Shattered Ghost subplot.

**Angel - Chapter 1**

"Tenno," said the Lotus suddenly, "I'm detecting a group of four Tenno on the other side of the planet.  They're in trouble."

"How bad?" asked Sasha.

"They appear to be short on ammo."

"It’s Grineer.  They can handle it," said Ryoko.

Richard didn't believe that for a second.  "Darrin, you guys have got this without me, right?  KthnxBYE!" Turning and sprinting for a cliff, he called for his Cephalon.  "Ordis, Archwing."

He was across the planet within two minutes, and the Lotus was right: they were in a bad way.  One of them was down, they were completely out of ammo, and only the Banshee had energy left. Cutting a swathe in the Grineer with his gun, Richard detached from his Archwing, double-cast Blessing, EVed an enemy, and began reviving the downed Tenno before he hit the ground.  "Stand up!" He yelled, not bothering to even use comms. "You're not done yet!"

The Banshee pinged a Sonar and Silenced the nearest group, while the Vauban threw up a Bastille.  The newly revived Volt popped a Discharge, and the Excalibur sent out a Javelin barrage while Richard EVed another Grineer with his Trinity Prime.  "Thank you, Trinity!" one of them said over comms.

"Thank me when we're out of this mess," Richard replied, and they went to work.

\- -

They were out of ammo again.  The Volt was built for duration, which was good, because Richard's EV would keep his Electric Shields up indefinitely.  But if the only thing that could kill them were Banshee's screams, Volt's zapping, Vauban's Teslas, Excalibur's Javelin, and Richard's Wombo Combo, they'd falter eventually and it would be over.

He was just about to ask Ordis to deploy a health pod so he could melee the rest of the Grineer to death without worrying about the others when an entire third of the remaining troops evaporated.  Richard looked up in alarm only to see Ryoko and Sasha on Archwing, shooting everything in sight. "Ryoko, what are you _doing_ here?    You need to get the data we just stole back to base!"

"Darrin’s taking care of that."

"Why aren’t you _all_ taking care of that?"

"Because no one dies on our watch."  Ryoko tossed an ammo pack down. "Now clear out this mess."

Sancti Tigris and the two Archwings made short work of the rest of the Grineer.  Richard looked up. "Do you four have a Clan?" he asked the four when Ryoko nodded.

"Yes," replied the Banshee, "and we are in your debt for what you did today."

"You owe us nothing." said Richard.  "Go home and rest. Medic's orders."

\- -

They got back to the Dojo later than they were expected to, obviously.  A state of minor panic had arisen in the Grand Assembly. "Oh, thank God," said Artis when he saw them.  "We were about to round up the entire Clan and go after you."

"That would have been foolish," said a smiling Darrin.  "We stopped to help Richard with a group of Tenno."

"For which, by the way," said Richard, "Ryoko."  The Arbiter paused and turned to face him. Richard looked him directly in the eye.  "Thank you," he said as emphatically as he could without cracking. They shook hands.

"I meant what I said back there, Richard.  We stand with you."

"I know."

"So," said Sasha cheerfully, walking up to them and throwing her arms across each of their shoulders, "who's in for dinner?”

**Angel - Chapter 2**

“Katherine, do you have a minute?”

“Sure.”

Richard sat down in one of the therapy chairs.  “Old memories are bothering me, and I don’t know how to make them stop.”

“What happened?”  She sat across from him.

“You heard how we saved those Tenno.  And last month Sasha and I were talking during her training about mistakes we’ve made.  And before that, there was that debacle with Lydia and an exploding cruiser. I keep getting reminded of the Tenno I lost.”

"Maybe you should talk to them."

"I can't hold a hypothetical conversation with them!  All I would feel is guilt that I can't have the conversation in person."

"You _can_ , though.  That's what I'm saying.  Find Tak and go talk to them."

She was right, he realized.  He _could_ go talk to them.  "What if I don't want to hear what they think of me now?"

"All the more reason to go.  Get closure."

"And what if they hate me for it?  What if they tell me I should never wear Trinity again?"

"Then tell them what you've done with her since then.  Show them that you've grown stronger since then. Tell them how you fight to honor their memory every day by making sure no one else meets the same fate."

"I don't think I can do that."

"So don't go alone."

"Who would I bring with me?"

"How about Lydia and Alaina?  Two people you've saved."

"What good will _that_ do?"

"They'll help you prove to yourself and your friends that you are doing right by them.  And if nothing else, they'll be there to support you."

She was right, as she always was.  He needed to find closure, even if that closure meant knowing that his friends were disappointed in him.

\- -

"It took some time to find them," said Tak as he opened the doors to the Barrow, "mostly because they weren't entombed immediately."

"That's my fault," Richard started to say, but Tak waved a hand.

"The fault for that lies with the Oro Keepers for not arriving earlier.  It is our duty to bury the dead who have no loved ones to bury them."

"It should have been me to bury them," said Richard.  "I was their friend. I let them down."

"Everything you've done since then has been to honor their memory," Lydia reminded him.  "You saved me. You've saved so many people."

"This place is beautiful," said Alaina in awe.  "Is this where _all_ Tenno are buried?"

"Each Clan has their own Barrow," said Tak, "but yes.  All Tenno are eventually entombed in a place like this one."  He gestured for them to follow. "This way."

They entered the Barrow, passing through corridors of empty spaces until they reached a bend in the passage.  Richard counted seven caskets in the area. "Is this them?" he asked.

Tak nodded and turned to address the caskets.  "Spirits of the fallen, I bid you rise and greet your friend, who has come after all this time to see that you rest in peace."

"Who is it?" asked Tyler's voice.  Seven Oro emerged from their caskets and looked around.  "Richard?" he asked tentatively.

"It's me," he said.

"You made it out of there?" asked Sharon, a Saryn.  "We always wondered. You didn't end up here with us, so we hoped you'd made it."

"I'm so sorry," Richard told her.  "I couldn't save you. It's my fault you're here."

"No, Richard," said Andrew, the Volt Prime, who had been their leader on that excursion.  "It was _our_ fault.  We were not prepared.  We were looking for revenge, and it found us.”

"But I should have been able to save you," he said, pleading with them to understand.  "I should have gotten you out of there. It was my job to make sure you made it back."

"There was nothing you could do," Alex said calmly, gesturing to her friends.  "We rushed in blindly, without thinking. You hesitated for just one second, and because of that you're still alive.  You had more sense than any of us, and we should have listened to you."

"What do you mean?" he asked them.  Lydia squeezed his hand and Alaina put her hand on his shoulder.

"You told us we should wait," said Andrew.  "That it wasn't safe to charge in like that.  You knew it wouldn't be possible to save us if we all went down at once.  Vay Hek got us and then went after you. It was either die saving one of us only for them to die anyway, or get out and make sure nothing like that happened again.  You chose right."

"But I abandoned you," he said.  "How can you be so calm about this?  I left you all to die! I left you bleeding out on the ground, like you meant nothing to me!  I let you get up again and charge to your death without even _trying_ to save you!  I ran _right past_ you without even looking!  How can you not hate me now?"

"If you'd tried to stay and fight, you would only have died with us," said Jon, the cloak on his Ash billowing in an invisible wind.  "You wouldn't have met any of these people who are here with you."

"If you'd died there," said Lydia, "I wouldn't be here right now."

"If I'd died there," said Richard, "I wouldn't have crashed that Fomorian into the asteroid.  There wouldn't have been a hearing, you wouldn't have met me, Kiri wouldn't have gone off the rails, you wouldn't have been anywhere _near_ Deri Spectra, and you wouldn't have _needed_ me to save you."

" _I_ would have died," said Alaina.  "That cave-in would have happened _with_ or with _out_ you being there."

"You can't blame yourself for everything that happened, Richard," said Tak.  "Your friends don't hold what happened against you. You shouldn't hold it against yourself."

Richard looked around at his friends.  "I always thought you were disappointed in me because I didn't do anything to save you."

"You saved _yourself_ ," said Alex.  "You kept our _memories_ alive.  If you were dead now, there would be no one left to remember us.  And that's not right."

"He hasn't lost anyone since," Lydia spoke up, looking up at the seven Oro who stood in a loose circle around them.  "He has a Clan now. He's saved so many people since the day he lost you. Just yesterday, he busted heads to get a group of Tenno out of a dark sector."

"That's _wonderful_ ," said Sharon.  "You're doing the job we always knew you could, Richard.  Maybe you had to make it through what happened to us to find the conviction you needed to be the best Trinity you could be."

"We have Trinity Prime now," Richard told them.  "She's even more tanky than the other one."

"Really?  I'm sure _that_ caused a race to get the parts," said Henry with a laugh, the Effigy on his Chroma’s back undulating as he laughed.  "And what's this I hear about you crashing a Fomorian into an asteroid?"

Now it was Tak’s turn to chuckle.  " _That_ was impressive.  Someone bombed New Loka's main hospital to the ground, so Richard found the Fomorian that did it and crashed it into the asteroid the guy had his base on."

"You _did not_..." said Christian, covering his mouth.  "Dude, that's AWESOME!"

Richard smiled.  "It felt... _extremely_ gratifying."

"So you're saving people and getting epic revenge.  I wish I could have seen that Fomorian burning," complained the Vauban.

"As a matter of fact," Tak said, pulling up a hologram of the picture Richard had sent out, "you _can_ ."  Richard's old friends looked at the picture, and a wide smile broke out on Tyler's face.  "I, Ember Prime, officially declare that explosion to be decidedly... _cathartic_ in nature."

Richard smiled.  "Thanks, Tyler."

"Soo," said Alex, looking at Richard and Lydia, "you two are a _thing_ , right?"

"Well, uh..." stammered Lydia.

"Yes," said Richard, letting go of her hand so he could put his arm around her.  "We are."

"And this is someone else you've saved?" asked Andrew, gesturing to Alaina.

"Yes," Alaina nodded.  "I was working in a mine when the ceiling collapsed.  We should have died, but he saved us."

"I wasn't even wearing a frame when that happened," said Richard.  "My Manifest started about a month or so before then, and it went off when I tried desperately to cast Blessing without a frame and healed everyone in the shaft."

"You're Manifesting?" Alex asked.  "That's wonderful!" She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him.  "I'm so happy for you!"

"I'm glad you're all together here," said Richard, hugging her back.  "It's nice to know you're not lonely here."

"We know you won't be joining us when you die, since you'll be in your Clan's Barrow," said Jon, "but promise you'll visit?"

"That's up to the Oro Keepers," said Richard, looking at Tak.

"That could be easily arranged," said Tak.  "We could also have your friends moved to our Barrow."

"Could you?" asked Richard.  "That is, if you guys want to."

"Why not?" said Alex.  "Then we could spend all our time together when you join us there."

"Well," said Tak, looking at all the Oro, who nodded approval, smiling, "I'll see what I can do."

"Don't be modest, Tak," said Richard.  "Your word is law here."

"There are rules even I cannot break," said Tak solemnly.  "Moving an Oro or their casket against their will is one of them.  There are specific protocols that must be followed."

"I'll leave you to the paperwork, then," Richard told him.  Turning to his friends, he shook each of their hands. "I will return more often now that I know how you feel about what happened."

"Don't forget about your friends who are still with you," said Alex.  "Do right by them, too."

"I will," he promised.  He nodded to Tak, and they began walking back the way they came.

"So," said Alaina, "what do you do _now_?"

" _Now_ ," said Richard, "I go see an old friend."

**Angel - Chapter 3**

"You look as though a great weight has been lifted from your shoulders, my friend," said Damien when he saw Richard.

"A weight _has_ been lifted," he replied.  "I visited the friends I left behind today."

"What did they have to say?"

"They told me to do right by them and by the friends I've made since then, and that we can talk about the things we could have done when I join them."

"So they approve of your new position?"

"They do."

"Good."

"I was finally able to let go of the guilt I felt, because they didn't hold what happened against me.  They're glad I made it out to tell their story; and they're all together, so I don't have to worry about them being separated from each other anymore."

"Sounds like you've come to an important conclusion."

"Indeed I have.  Trinity's power is increased when you feel a natural protective instinct.  My feelings were always clouded before, because I blamed myself for not doing more to save them.  Now that's gone, I should be able to use her better."

"I think you're right.  But for old times' sake, I believe we should try one last time."

"I should also tell you," Richard said, "I've started Manifesting.  As Trinity."

Damien smiled more brightly than Richard had ever seen him.  "That's wonderful!"

"It will make this go much easier," Richard reminded the man who had first taught him how to pilot Trinity.

"We'll see about that," said his mentor, powering up the Simulacrum.

Richard entered slowly and knelt in the circle.

"For this simulation," said Damien, "your Warframe will be surging.  Try to tag as many of the targets as possible with any form of healing in the allotted time."

"Alright," said Richard.  The simulation started, and Richard was surprised to see that it was merely a flat, open plain with targets evenly spaced across the entire expanse.  "What is this testing?" he asked the old man.

"Speed and range," replied Damien.

"Could I try using my Manifest for this?"

"I don't see why not.  Begin."

Richard felt the familiar feeling in his Warframe that told him the power systems were surging with energy.  Immediately, he began pooling that energy outside his Warframe by holding the ball of light cantrip in an extended form, and then began to meditate.  Slowly the ball of light grew in intensity and size, and Richard rummaged around in his head for ideas on how to cover the entire area. Then he remembered: Trinity's Blessing was unique in that it didn't have a range restriction, but instead only affected a certain number of targets.  He knew this was to control energy drain, not because it was incapable of affecting more. He felt around in his Warframe’s control systems with his mind until he found the override for the target limiter on Blessing, and threw it wide open. Immediately he could see all the targets in the Simulacrum in his mind's eye, and he knew exactly how much energy it would take to tag them all.

After another minute of meditation, the cantrip contained enough energy.  Richard put his feet down, set his stance, and cast Blessing, releasing all the stored energy in the cantrip as he did so.  The simulation blinked out.

"That, my friend," said Damien, walking over to Richard and taking his hands, "is how I know you will surpass all other healers.   _No one_ has ever tagged 500 targets with Blessing before: it was believed to be impossible.  But you continue to show me that some things are only impossible because we don't believe we are capable of them.  Just as when you first came to me, I didn't think it was possible to build a Trinity for solo combat and have her be more effective than Rhino or Chroma at damage resistance.  Now, you show me what a real Trinity can do if you remove the fear of failure from your mind."

"A _real_ Trinity?" Richard asked.  "I am no more real than you or Katherine or any other Trinity pilot."

"You are the only pilot I have ever known whose protective instinct is close to rivaling that of the original pilot of the Trinity Warframe.  You are truly the Tenno who will show the system what Trinity was _really_ made for."  He shook Richard's hand, and both left their hands on the other's shoulder for a few extra seconds.

"Thank you, Damien.  I promise to do you proud."

"Do _yourself_ proud, Richard.  You have the capacity to be extraordinary.  Go do things that have never been done before.  Go save those who couldn't be saved before. Go make this system a better place than it has ever been.  Take your Trinity Prime and do something _impossible_."

"I've always wondered if a single Tenno could blow up a Balor Fomorian from the inside," Richard mused.

Damien laughed.  "Just so long as you survive it."

"I wasn't serious, Damien.  Killing _one_ Fomorian by myself is enough for me."

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“Thank you for everything you’ve shown me, my friend.  I will always remember the man who taught me what it truly means to be Trinity.”

**Angel - Chapter 4**

There weren’t many days where nothing interesting happened in the Clan Dojo.  Sure, there were plenty of days where nothing important or dangerous or politically precarious happened.  But those days usually had something interesting going on, whether it was an experiment in a lab, some new relic Gareth had found, or some Conclave shenanigans.

Today, though, it seemed like nothing of any interest to anyone was happening.  For the first time that he could remember, Richard had nothing to do.

There wasn't a ton of time to relax and just lounge around if you were a Tenno.  He decided to stay out of his lab, the Simulacrum, and Conclave, and instead focus on spending time with people he didn't interact with much.

"Carlos!" Richard called as he passed.

The Rhino turned.  "Hey, Richard. What's up?"

"Not much.  I just decided to spend some time with the people I don't talk to often.  Where are we headed?"

"I was going to do a few missions for Steel."

"Okay.  I'll come with."

"Aren't you in bad standing with Steel?"

"It's not like I've _done_ anything to them.  They just don't like Loka."

“True.  Alright.  Let’s go see what they want me to do today.”

\- -

They wanted Carlos to rescue someone from the Corpus, blow up a Grineer toxin injector, and get some information off a Corpus ship.  They decided to do the sabotage first.

“You hit the reactor and I’ll grab the shinies,” Richard told Carlos.  “My Helios has radar.”

“Okay.”  Carlos turned and made his way toward the reactor, and Richard went exploring through the other hallways.

Five minutes later, they met at the extraction point, leaving a melted injector and with all eight of the curiosities Steel had wanted.  Richard handed them to Carlos, and they moved on to the Corpus prison ship.

“You any good at sniping?” Carlos asked as they approached the brig.

“I’m fairly decent,” said Richard, “but usually I just point this baby in their general direction and watch the fun.”  He held up his shotgun.

“True,” said Carlos with a smirk.  “Let’s try to do this without setting off alarms, though.”

“Silent running?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.  Booby traps it is.”  Richard unsleeved a set of Sancti Castanas and peeked around the corner.  He received a faceful of laser for his trouble, and immediately blind-fired an EV around the corner.  The lasers stopped and his energy pool refilled, so Richard ran around the corner and decapitated the warden with his Redeemer.  The alarms weren’t sounding, so no one on the other side of the door had heard them. “Let’s _not_ do that again?” he suggested to Carlos.

“I agree.”  Carlos hacked the door, and Richard immediately rolled forward to take cover behind a crate.  “How did you know that was there?”

“The Corpus are many things,” said Richard as Carlos ducked behind the crate with him, “but they’re efficient.  They don’t build too many different designs, and they _never_ stray from the floor plan.  This crate is ALWAYS here.”

They looked around the sides of the crate, trying to find the other wardens.  The Corpus hadn’t activated the lasers in this cell block yet, mostly because they didn’t know anything was wrong yet.  Carlos spotted one of the wardens and pointed him out to Richard. “By the lift.”

Richard turned, saw him, and threw a pair of Castanas at the back of the control box.  “That’s him taken care of. Where’s the other one?”

“I think he’s farther in.”

“Okay.”  Richard detonated the knives, and the Warden fell over, the intense magnetism of the weapons completely destroying both his biological and mechanical systems.  They moved stealthily to the railing and looked down. Richard saw the third warden just as he decided to call out some piece of small talk to his comrade above him.  To do this, he decided to look up. Richard blasted him in the face with his Sancti Tigris before he could react to seeing two Tenno peering over the railing, and they moved to the cells.

Three were empty, and the fourth one contained two hostages.  “ _This_ is new,” said Carlos.

“So long as they pay us, right?” Richard asked.  Carlos gave one of them his pistol, and Richard handed the other his Redeemer.  “Slicey, splodey, you pick,” he told her, indicating the trigger.

They had no trouble getting out.  “We won’t forget this, Tenno,” the male captive said as they reached extraction.

“ _I_ haven’t forgotten,” said a female voice from behind them.  Richard spun, gun drawn, but no one was there.

“Thought I heard something,” he said when Carlos looked at him questioningly.  He’d heard that voice before. But where? It wasn’t a memory, he knew. The only voices from his memories he could remember with perfect clarity that weren’t his own were Alex’s and Lydia’s.  It wasn’t either of theirs, and he wasn’t crazy. It must have been his imagination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have (hopefully polite) questions? Have (hopefully relevant) comments? Hell, have any (hopefully at least halfway to quasi-relevant) memes? Drop me a line at sarcasticmathematician @ gmail.com (email address broken to hopefully reduce the amount of crawler-generated flotsam that appears in my inbox) and I'll (maybe) reply in a reasonable* amount of time.
> 
> *the word "reasonable" is hereby defined as "whenever the hell I get around to it, schedule permitting" (what can I say, I'm a busy dude!)


	18. Halo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clan Miraalan and the High Council have been at odds since the beginning of post-Collapse history, and probably before then. It seems only fitting that eventually the two would reach an irreconcilable disagreement on something.
> 
> In other news, it's finally full-on flashback time!
> 
> Today is Terminus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angel: Halo
> 
> In which the Tenno High Council does a stupid and we find out what Richard was doing on The Day The Empire Died.

**Halo - Chapter 1**

The results of his most recent experiment had been less than satisfying, and Richard preferred not to think about it.

For now, it would be sufficient to work on mastering new weapons.

Today, that was the Penta, Spira, and Ankyros Prime.  Richard was making short work of the Grineer here, thanks in part to both the Penta’s explosiveness and Ankyros Prime’s ability to rapidly render armor irrelevant.

Also, Spira.  Flashy, pointy, deadly.  These knives were perfect for Grineer whose armor had been mostly stripped away.

And for those Grineer who didn’t immediately die, Richard had a surprise for them.  Well, two surprises: the Rumblers.

Oh, yeah.  Atlas. Atlas was a thing that existed now.  He wasn’t as tanky as the most tanky of frames, but he had a solid build of armor and could hold his own with the best of them.  Richard wouldn’t be using him much, but would master him all the same.

Atlas could summon two semi-autonomous boulder golems that were surprisingly good at smashing none of the things you DIDN’T want them to.  Which, of course, meant they smashed everything else.

Fortunately, “everything else” meant whatever Richard happened to be fighting.  Usually. Sometimes they smashed walls or alarm panels. Though, he mused after a particularly large boulder was thrown through a wall into the panel he’d been about to hack, hitting the panels with a very large rock was a decently reliable way to deactivate alarms.

Making short work of the rest of the Grineer, Richard made for extraction.  Ordis opened his Inbox as he boarded to display a terse message from Darrin.

_Clan Council meeting:  Immediately._

“Ordis?”

“We will arrive in approximately… now,” said his Cephalon as they docked with the Dojo.

Richard smiled at the new mannerisms Ordis had acquired.  “Thank you.” Three steps to a teleporter and he was in the Observatory of Clan Miraalan’s Dojo, which also served as the Council Chamber when needed.

“I second Ryoko’s motion to skip the pleasantries and minutiae,” he said as he approached the table in the center of the room, where Ryoko and Darrin were seated.  “It thus carries. What’s happened?”

Darrin nodded and pressed a button, and the bioscan of a young human female appeared above the table.  “The Tenno Council has taken an interest in Sai’ah.”

“What kind of interest?”

“They wish to study her to find out how she works,” Ryoko said flatly.

“What kind of study do they wish to perform?” Richard asked Darrin.

“They want to observe her to see where her powers came from.  They also want to decide what should be done about her.”

“What do you mean, ‘done about her’?  She’s a child who happens to be able to read minds.  And she’s much better at hiding what she learns now.”

“Put bluntly,” said Ryoko, “the Council sees her as a threat.  Alan is leading a movement to bring her to the Council for observation in an attempt to quell the murmuring.”

“How exactly does he plan to get her off Phenix?” Richard asked with a smirk.

“He plans to make an official request to bring her to a facility for study.  How her powers work, what their limits are, and if there’s anything they don’t work on.”

“He’s going to ask Melanie if he can take her daughter off Phenix so he can put her in a tank full of brine and x-ray her brain while she’s using her powers.  And he actually expects that to work?”

“Apparently,” said Darrin, the slightest hint of a smile on his face.

Richard shook his head in bemusement.  “Here we go…”

\- -

Just as Richard had predicted, Chancellor Melanie gave Councillor Alan’s request a flat denial.  He wasn’t privy to the exact wording of said denial, but from the way Ryoko and Darrin had looked when they returned from the most recent High Council meeting, he could tell it hadn’t exactly been _polite_.

Which was completely understandable.  “‘Hey, your daughter the latent psion could become **_extremely dangerous_** if she decides to be evil when she grows up.  We’d like to take her _away_ from you and put her in a tank, where we will poke, prod, and otherwise experiment on her until we’re sure we can either control or contain her, at which point we’ll give her back to you.  Okay?’ What would _you_ do?   **Damned** ** _right_** you’d say ‘no’.”

“You’re preaching to the choir, Richard,” Katherine told him in an exasperated tone.  “I don’t support their current approach either.”

“Well it’s a good thing that Melanie and Phenix don’t fall under the Council’s jurisdiction.  They make many more moves to take her and Ryoko might declare us to be the same.”

“What, remove Miraalan from the Council?”

“And officially stand on the side of the place we created, yes.”

“That won’t end well.”

“The Council won’t have a choice but to let us go if he says we’re done.  They can’t risk a war they’ll likely lose.”

“The Council?  Lose?”

“Katherine, do you have any idea how much political clout this Clan has?  We’re the only Clan with two members on the Tenno High Council. We’re the only clan with a universally recognized figure who’s famous for causing mass mayhem,” he continued, indicating himself, “and we have you.”

“Me?”

“You’re _only_ the most well-respected doctor out of all the Tenno in the system.  And don’t pretend you don’t know that, Katherine, I’ve seen you pull favors from people.”

She smiled shyly and held up her hands.  “You got me there.”

He laughed.  “Yeah, well. Secession is the last thing anyone here wants, but that won’t stop some Councillors from trying.”

Katherine sighed.  “You’re probably right.  Get some rest, Richard.”

“Yes’m, Doc,” he said as he opened her office door.

“ _Don’t_ give me that,” she said as she threw a pillow from the psych couch at him.  “Go on.”

Richard laughed, too.  “Take your own advice, Katherine.  You’ve got bags under your eyes.”

“Do I?  I guess you’re right.  See you tomorrow.”

“Sleep well, Katherine.”

**Halo - Chapter 2**

“Hey, wait up,” called Mandy from behind him.

Richard stopped to wait for her to catch up.  “What’s up?”

“Keep going, dummy,” she said teasingly as she reached him and continued out the door.

“What’s up?” he repeated as he starting walking again.

“I just needed to get out of there,” she explained as she kept moving, toward the road.  “Adam was being a real jerk today in Calculus.”

Richard nodded sagely as he followed her down the stairs.  “I see. You’ve mentioned this ‘Adam’ a lot recently. Should I be worried?”

“Shut up, you,” she said with a laugh, stopping just long enough to give him a playful shove, then starting to jog down the road.

Richard could have easily turned the shove into a backflip and landed on his feet, but he chose to let himself fall instead, landing awkwardly on the stone steps before standing.  “Hey, wait up,” he called jokingly as he broke into a jog himself to catch up.

Mandy smirked as he slowed down to jog alongside her.  “Good one.”

“I try **_so_ ** hard,” he replied with a smirk of his own.  “So where are we going?”

“I was going to head home and watch the celebration at Terminus from the couch.”

Richard laughed.  “You never were one for formal-wear, were you?”

“Nnnope.  You coming?”

Richard thought about this for a minute.  “I dunno,” he said finally. “It would be fun, but I’m not sure if I should.”

“Aw, c’mon, it’s not like you’ve got anywhere better to be.”

“I mean…” Richard slowed down so he could bring up his comm for Mandy to see the invitation, and she skidded to a stop.

“How did you get that?” she almost shrieked.  “How did _you_ get that and I didn’t?”

Richard shrugged.  “I dunno. Maybe it’s because your father’s important and my father’s not even an Orokin?  I think the Executor just wants bodies there so it looks like there are more people in Sectarus Braun’s good graces than there actually are.”

“From what little my father’s told me about Braun, I’m inclined to agree with you.  Are you gonna go anyway?”

“I’m not sure.  Though I’ll admit there won’t be any couches at the actual celebration…”

Mandy laughed.  “Now you’re teasing me.”

“Maybe I am.  What of it?”

“I might take offense from your teasing.”

Now it was Richard’s turn to laugh.  “Oh? And what would happen if you did?”  He broke into a run before she could hit him.

\- -

“Hungry?” she asked.

“As a matter of fact...” said Richard, crossing into the kitchen.  “What can I get you?” Mandy’s flat had a wide open floor plan: there weren’t any doors anywhere on the main floor.

Mandy smiled.  “You’re too kind, Richard.  Offering to bring me food in my own house.”

He laughed.  “Well, you’re already curled up under a mountain of blankets.  It wouldn’t do for you to get up now.”

“Fair.  Sandwich?”

“Sure.”  He made two and pulled a pitcher of lemonade from the fridge as well.

“I’m not sure what it means that you know where everything is in my fridge.”

“It means I come here often enough to know where everything is in your fridge.”  He stuck his tongue out her as she did the same. Setting the tray down on the coffee table, he handed her a plate.

“Thanks,” she said through a mouthful of sandwich.

Richard nodded.  “You got it, boss.”

“Oh,” she said sweetly as the screen came on and played a short musical number, “I’m the _boss_ , now?”  She threw him a coy wink as the words “Live from Terminus” shimmered in gold text on the screen.  “Ooh, here we go!”

And indeed they were there.  The Orokin had spared no expense for the Tenno, their saviors.  White and gold glittered from every available surface as the Tenno strode in, clad in formal attire, Warframes and Weapons shining in vibrant colors, metal glinting in the bright lights of the celebration.

A single note rang out, and an assembled choir began to chant as the Orokin Executors filed in at the head of the space to take their places, the Tenno fanning out to fill the space directly beneath them at the head of the crowd.  After a few minutes, the procession ended and everyone was in place. The choir finished their song, and the room fell silent.

“My friends!  My esteemed brethren!  Today, we gather here to celebrate…” one of the Executors was giving an elaborate speech, complete with a formal oral cadence and grand gesticulations, but Richard’s attention was turned to an abrupt, sharp knock on the apartment door.  Standing, Richard poked Mandy in the forehead before going to see who was at the door at a time like this.

It was Jonathon.  “What are you doing here?” Richard hissed at him as he pulled him inside and shut the door.  “It’s Orokin Decadence Day.”

“I know,” said Jonathon apologetically.  “But I wanted to make sure you got the full brunt of what I’ve been feeling from some of the others.”  He offered Richard his hands.

“Richard?” Mandy called from the other room.  “Everything alright?”

“Yes, just fine,” he called back.  “I’ll be a minute yet.”

“You’re missing the _spee-eech_!”

“You _know_ I don’t care!”  Richard took Jonathon’s hands curiously and immediately knew why the latter had come.  “How many are first-hand nerves?” he asked in an urgent whisper as he released his friend and walked back into the kitchen.

“If I had to guess I would say no more than half,” said Jonathon as he followed Richard into Mandy’s kitchen, “but it’s hard to tell.  Nervousness spreads quickly when there’s enough people, and everyone’s nervous for different reasons already.”

“What’s going on?” asked Mandy at the sight of Jonathon.  “Who’s that? Richard, wh-” her words were cut off as Richard Void Dashed across the short distance between them and smothered her mouth with his hand.

“Stop.  Talking.” he hissed.

He’d never spoken to Mandy like this before: the most harsh he’d ever been was when he’d had to teach her astrophysics last year.  His tutoring had been the only thing that saved her from failing the course, but even then he’d never altered his voice from its normal, friendly tone.

Her pulse rose in fear at both hearing his tone and seeing him teleport across a room, and he knew immediately he’d made a mistake.  “I am sorry. Something is very wrong, and _we have to go_.  This house is most definitely under surveillance and it is not safe for you to talk.  Do you trust me?” Mandy nodded, wide-eyed. “Okay.”

Richard let go of her mouth and blinked back to the kitchen before striding to a panel of solid stainless steel next to the fridge.  “Good afternoon, Ordis,” he said, and a keyboard lit up on the metal’s surface.

Mandy scrambled to her feet, displacing blankets everywhere and knocking over the lemonade pitcher.  She reached the kitchen just as the panel slid down into the floor to reveal a crouched humanoid figure.  Richard touched it as soon as the panel was out of the way and turned to face Mandy. “There are so many things I want to tell you, but we do not have time.  Right now we need to move.”

Mandy nodded shakily, then froze in horror as the figure Richard had touched edged its way out of the secret cupboard and stood up.  It was a Warframe: most likely the first one she’d ever seen in person.

“Go,” Richard told Jonathon.  “Do what you can. I shall see you at 0900 at Halcyon Six.”  Jonathon nodded, closed his eyes, and vanished as he returned to his Warframe at the ceremony.

Mandy was shaking now, her hands firmly pressed over her mouth to prevent any sound from leaking out.  She was rightly terrified now - the last few minutes had probably been more eventful for her than the last few years had been.  Richard stepped back and melted into his Warframe, feeling the familiar surge of Transference energy. In three strides, he had picked up Mandy in one arm, retrieved the shotgun from its hiding place inside the wall of the kitchen doorway, and reached the front door.

Once out the door, he turned around and kicked it in, easily separating it from its hinges, before turning and running up the street, Mandy hanging on tight as he did.  “Thank goodness the street is empty,” he commented as he ran. “Otherwise this would be a lot more dangerous.”

“Richard,” Mandy managed to choke out past the continuous stream of tears that now ran down her face.  “What is going on?”

“I do not know,” Richard admitted.  “But it is not good. There is an uneasy tension in the air at the ceremony.”

“But why?” Mandy asked.  “I mean, it’s a party, right?  We won the War.”

“The War is far from over,” he told her bluntly.  “The Sentient did not run - they retreated. And that means they will be back.”

“But the Rail’s gone,” she started.  “They won’t be back for cen-”

“In that case, there are some things that need fixing here at home.”  Richard’s tone was colder than he’d expected. It seemed that he felt stronger about this than he thought.  “The Sectarus were not... _kind_ to the children of the Zariman.  We were studied, and not in a way that treated us as dignified.  We were burned, frozen, submitted to electric shock, some of us were even **dissected**.”  He paused.  “I didn’t think there were that many of them,” he said in a whisper as he finally caught the feeling that Jonathon had warned him was coming through the comms’ thoughtwave channel.

“That many who?” Mandy asked, drying her eyes and shifting to take a more firm hold on his Warframe’s torso.

“Separatists,” he said tersely.  “There has been talk for a while now.  Since even before Deimos was destroyed.  The Orokin Empire is no more a friend to us than the Sentient are.  The trouble is that not everyone in it was directly involved with the hell we’ve been through.”

Mandy said nothing, which Richard took as a prompt.  She was letting him monologue because she knew it would both clear his head and explain everything to her.

“Therein lies the problem.  Because I do not think you will find a single Tenno who does not wish death upon those who tortured us.  But what about everyone _else_?  What about the people who ordered the torturing done?  What about those who continued to allow funding to go toward the Tenno projects without knowing exactly what it was the money was being spent on?  What about people like you?” They’d reached a hangar, and Richard skidded to a halt, holstered his weapon, and opened the door properly. The attendant did a double take at the sight of an Oberon Prime carrying a teenage girl, but made no move to stop them from entering.  “Happy Decadence Day,” Richard told her with a sarcastic tone before boarding a shuttle and skipping the entire pre-launch procedure, as one normally did. As they took off and headed out into space, Richard belted Mandy into a chair and stepped out of his Warframe to copilot the shuttle with it.  “Welcome to the final frontier,” he said jokingly as they cleared the atmosphere.

Mandy gasped as they broke free of the planet’s gravity well, causing her to float out of her chair slightly, held in place by the belt.

“And what about the people who had _absolutely nothing_ to do with what was done to us?” Richard continued as he entered coordinates.  “What about the people who were involved in research projects at the same facility, but were working on _medicines_ or studying _plant life_ ?  What about the **vast majority** of the Orokin, whose spouses and parents were the only ones who were involved?  What about the _children_ ?”  He sighed and turned his chair to face her.  “We can all agree on one thing: the Orokin Empire is corrupt, despotic, and at the end of its reign.  What we **cannot** agree on is what to do about it.”

“They’re going to kill everyone, aren’t they.”  It wasn’t a question, and they both knew it.

“I don’t know,” he said simply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have (hopefully polite) questions? Have (hopefully relevant) comments? Hell, have any (hopefully at least halfway to quasi-relevant) memes? Drop me a line at sarcasticmathematician @ gmail.com (email address broken to hopefully reduce the amount of crawler-generated flotsam that appears in my inbox) and I'll (maybe) reply in a reasonable* amount of time.
> 
> *the word "reasonable" is hereby defined as "whenever the hell I get around to it, schedule permitting" (what can I say, I'm a busy dude!)


	19. Wings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is high time we had a mostly-unserious Arc. So here it is.
> 
> What happens when a bunch of Tenno get together in one place where there also happen to be enemies?
> 
> Well, imagine what happens when just four of them get together, and multiply it by carnage.
> 
> I miss Raids, awful bugged-to-hell messes though they were.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Angel: Wings
> 
> In which Sasha learns why multiple-person Simulacrum sessions were temporarily banned and Richard's Manifest levels up.

**Wings - Chapter 1**

"-you think we should take some space," Richard finished her sentence for her.

"No," said Katherine.  "I just think that you and Lydia are starting to become... antisocial."

"Katherine, we're trying to finish an experiment.  The faster it gets done, the faster the benefits gained from our results can be shared with the Clan."

"You're spending all your time together and you're ignoring the rest of the Clan.  This project can wait."

"Katherine, you don't under-"

"Doctor's orders, Richard."

Richard scoffed at her.  "You can't pull that on me, Katherine."

“I can pull it on her," she said as he moved to leave.

Richard froze, his blood running cold.  "You can't," he said in a barely audible whisper.  "You can't."

"Richard, what's wrong?" she asked, quick strides carrying her across the room in an instant.  She put her arms on his shoulders and steered him into a chair. He sat. "You're _terrified_ I might actually pull rank on her."

"Katherine, this can't wait!"

"I only said that so you'd reconsider your decision, Richard.  I would **_never_ ** do that to you."

"You and I **both** know you _absolutely_ would."

A pause, then she sighed.  "You're right," she admitted.  "But Richard, you're starting to scare us."

"Why?" he asked.  "Before Lydia, I was in my labs during every second of my spare time.  You all see me exactly as often as you did before. What's changed?"

"Before, we just assumed you were working because you didn't have anyone to confide in.  Now, you're still away from the group just as often, and you've pulled someone else in with you."

"Katherine, I appreciate your concern.  But this project can't wait. It's about my Manifest."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to get a feel for exactly what I can do now, especially when I'm wearing a Warframe."

"As in, a Warframe other than Trinity."

"That's part of it, yes."

"You've been experimenting with using Trinity in addition to your Manifest?"

"Well, yeah.  Wouldn't you?"

"Richard, I don't wear any other Warframes besides Trinity, and I so rarely leave the Dojo anymore that I doubt I'll ever reach the point that I get a Manifest."

"I don't think that's how Manifests work," said Richard, "but I honestly don't know exactly how it is they work.  That's why we're trying to figure out what I can do now."

"Just be sure to spend time with the rest of us every once in a blue moon," said Katherine.

"I will.  See you later."  He stood.

"Tell Lydia I said hello."

"Will do."

\- -

"We really should take dinner with the Clan," he told her two weeks later.  "Katherine says they're worried about us."

"If it's that bad, we probably should spend less time on this, then," she said.  "I mean, we've pretty much hit the limit anyway."

"Hmm," Richard mused.  "Well, either way, if we don't start doing more things with more people, Katherine could pull rank on you."

"What, as Doctor?"

"That's what she told me."

"Wow.  They must be going _insane_."

"I don't know.  I mean, before I met you, I spent almost all of my spare time in this lab.  I guess they just expected to see more of me when you joined the Clan."

"Huh," she said.  "Well, let's do dinner."

"Yes, let's."  They went down to the mess hall early and sat down at the large table in the center.

Darrin was the next to show up.  "Oh, hey guys. Fancy seeing _you_ here."

"We thought it was a good idea to start taking our meals in here rather than in my quarters," said Lydia.  "That way you guys know we're still alive and stuff."

"Oh, we know you're alive," said Artis as he sat down.  "The trouble is not knowing where you are."

"You could always ask Simon," Richard reminded him.

"Yeah, because _that_ wouldn't be weird," Artis replied.

"What wouldn't be weird?" asked Fred as he set his tray on the table.

"Never mind," said Darrin.  "It was a bad joke."

"Bad joke is bad and you should feel bad," Fred told the table.

"Anyone up for Euchre after dinner?" asked Sasha.  "Oh, hey guys," she said to Richard and Lydia.

"I'll partner you," said Richard.  "We need two more."

"I'm game," said Artis.

"What are we playing?" asked Vahlin.

"Euchre," said Sasha.

"Oh.  Yeah, no thanks."

"I'll play," said Tak, who had materialized behind Vahlin.  "I'm with Artis, then?"

"Yup," said Artis.

"I'm lost," said Lydia.  "What just happened?"

"We're going to play a card game after dinner," said Sasha.  "As far as we know we're the only Clan who knows how."

"You'll have to teach me," said Lydia.

"You should watch," Richard told her, "not that it’ll help.  It's fun to see people try and work out what's going on, though."

"I've played other card games before," said Lydia indignantly.  "I know what all the names of the ranks and suits are."

"That's not really gonna help here, Lydia," said Artis.  "Knowing rank and suit of a card is kind of a requirement for every game."

"Besides, Euchre screws with your brain," Tak told her.  "You'll see what we mean."

"No, Tak," said Richard, "Euchre's only a _little_ bit screwy.   _Pinochle_ screws with your brain."

"Well, okay, you've got me there.  I still don't understand Pinochle."

"That's okay.  I think I'm the only one here who knows how to play that anyway."

"Play what?" asked Sarah as she sat down.

"Pinochle."

"Oh.  No, I never learned Pinochle.  I can play Hand and Foot, though," she said brightly.

"Don't ask," said Richard before Lydia could ask.  "You'll be here all night and you still won't get it."

"Describe it to me in two words," Lydia said.

"Double Canasta," Richard and Sarah said simultaneously.

"I don't even understand _regular_ Canasta," said Lydia sadly.

"Neither do we," said Richard.  "I mean, we know the rules, but how it got started we can't tell you."

"Sounds like almost every other game we know of," said Sasha.

"True enough."

\- -

They played for two hours, and Lydia still didn’t get it.

**Wings - Chapter 2**

“I still don’t understand what I’m doing for you,” she said.

“You’re Equinox; specifically, Animus.  Your Mend has no target limiter because it’s instead limited by how much energy you have stored in it.  My Trinity’s Blessing has no range, but it has a target limit to prevent me from emptying my entire energy pool in one go.  Put those together and we can hit every single target in a large area without using too much energy," Richard explained.

"So I'm removing your target limit?"

"No, I can do that manually on my Warframe.  You're letting me do it without wasting energy to overheal people."

"Oh," said Lydia.  "Okay."

"Let's try again."

This time, Richard managed to tag all the targets, but not all of them received the same amount of energy.  "It didn't work," said Richard sadly.

"On the contrary, Hunter," said Simaris' voice.  "It worked perfectly."

"What do you mean?" asked Richard.

"The targets had an unequal capacity to receive energy, just as your allies in battle would need different amounts of energy.  Their capacities were all filled. Your experiment was a success."

They'd been using Simaris' Simulacrum because multiple-person sessions in the Clan's unit were no longer permitted without the authorization of an Arbiter due to a rather laughable incident that resulted in nothing productive being learned in that particular session.  Sure, it had been fun, but as Ryoko had pointed out, that wasn't the point. "Thanks for letting me know, Simaris. If you'd be so kind as to inform Cephalon Suda that Richard Erich wished her to know the results of his latest experiment?"

"It was my understanding that you are opposed to her."

" _She_ is opposed to _me_.  I think what she's doing is a good idea, but unfortunately she and Loka don't get on all that well."

"I see.  I have chosen a new Synthesis target.  The profile has been uploaded to your Codex."

"I'll see what I can do about that.  Good Day, Simaris.”

"Good day, Hunter."

\- -

"Hey, Richard," called Darrin as they got back to the dojo.  "We're going to Ceres. Want to come with?"

"Sure.  Who all's going?"

"Sasha and Ryoko."

"Cool.  See you later, Lydia."

"Okay."  She turned down the hallway to general quarters, and he turned around to follow Darrin.

"So what's the mission?" Richard asked Darrin as they entered the hangar.

"Defense.  The Lotus told us she found a cryopod in the dark sector.  We're going to guard it until she can get a Liset for it."

"Okay."  He boarded his own Liset again.  "Ordis, prep my weapons for Infested.  We're going to Seimeni."

"We've got the gang back together," said Sasha as she boarded her own Liset.  "Let's go save another Tenno."

They arrived at Seimeni to find the cryopod on a tram and the Infested pouring down the stairs about 100 meters away.  Ryoko and Darrin both put up a bubble as they landed, encircling the sleeping Tenno in what would prove to be an impenetrable barrier in practice as well as theory, as they could refresh the barriers at will - Richard's EV would see to that.

They were in the thick of it for about fifteen minutes before they hit a lull.  The Infested were massing for their next wave, so they weren't flooding the area anymore.  Richard stunlocked the last charger with Well of Life to allow them to catch their breath for a bit, and Sasha took the time to ask Ryoko a question.  "I've been wondering: why can't we have multiple-person sessions in the Simulacrum?"

Darrin sidled up to Richard, twirling his Jat Kittag lazily.  "They're probably gonna send the next wave soon whether this one's alive or not."

"That's true," said Richard.  He walked off about 50 meters, then without warning unholstered his Sancti Tigris and shouted at the top of his lungs, "PULL!"

Darrin obliged, sending the unfortunate creature flying at an incredible speed across the open area with his Jat Kittag.  Richard counted silently to six, then raised his Tigris in his right arm at a 47-degree angle from the ground and a 113-degree angle from in front of him, and blind-fired both barrels.  The charger exploded, having taken roughly 18 pellets of highly corrosive ammunition to the thorax from Richard's direct hit.

" _That_ ," said Ryoko, laughing at Sasha's awestruck expression.  "We can't do more than one person in the Simulacrum anymore because _that_ is what happens."

"We practiced that for three solid weeks in the Simulacrum," Richard told Sasha.

"Which in _itself_ isn't a bad thing," Darrin explained further, "but when you're doing that instead of learning or training?"  He made a tsk-tsk sound and waggled his finger. " _That's_ **not** okay."

"You guys _seriously_ did THAT with your free time?"

"Ee-yup," said Richard.  "It's a GREAT party trick,  but it **really** _isn't_ what you're supposed to do in the Simulacrum."

"Here they come," said Ryoko, and they got back to work.  Another ten minutes and a Liset arrived to take the cryopod.

"Good show, lads," said Richard as they flew back to the Dojo.  "Another Tenno joins the fight, another charger feeds the flying joke, another day in Paradise."

"Did you seriously just put two puns in that, Richard?" asked Sasha.

"I think a little bit of Finn is rubbing off on me," he replied.

"Must be," said Darrin, "because those were horrible."

"I _aim_ to please," said Richard with a snigger, and Sasha lost it.

"You _suck_ ," she said, laughing.

"It made you laugh."

"It did."

**Wings - Chapter 3**

"Ten minutes ago," said Darrin, projecting a hologram of another Clan's Dojo in front of him, "we picked up a distress beacon.  There was an accident in the Dojo of the Clan “Grineer Aan De Vergetelheid”. They didn't use the lower levels of the structure, so there was no way they could have known there was an extensive Infested research laboratory on the lowest level.  They brought a live sample of Infested biomatter back for study, and it woke its dormant brothers below. The power to the lower section had been turned off since they didn't use it, and as a result the creatures easily breached containment. Within the next hour, the entire Dojo was overrun.  They sent the distress beacon because they weren't about to leave their Dojo."

"So our job is to go there and clean out the Infested?" asked Vahlin.

"Essentially.  It's possible that some of them may still be alive, but they're likely scared out of their minds and probably getting close to running out of ammo, if they haven't already."

"So we're going to go in and get everyone who's still alive out of there," said Lydia.

"You're going to go in and clear out the _Infested_ , and if you find any Tenno, you obviously get them out."

"Sounds like a plan," said Richard.

"We're joining an assault already in progress," Darrin told the group as the Dojo came into view in front of their Landing Crafts.  "The fighting's been going on for about two hours now, and the Infested show no signs that their numbers are lessening."

"So we're going in essentially blind?" asked Sasha.

"We know that it's going to be purely Infested we're facing, but beyond that?  Yeah, we're going in blind," said Darrin. "I suggest you pack heavy."

"Lydia, I'll need you in Anima," Richard told her.  "Maim will level an entire floor if there's a Nova in the vicinity."

"That's what I'm here for," said Martin with a smile.

"So it is," said Lydia.  "Let's go take this Dojo back."

They entered the hangar to find it deserted.  No Landing Crafts were there, even though there were supposedly Tenno here.  "They must have told their Cephalons to leave to escape the Technocyte in case they didn't make it out," Richard mused.

"We'll find out soon enough," said Darrin, opening the door.

Immediately screams of dying Infested filled the room and echoed off the empty walls.

"Well, then," said Artis.  "Time to go to work."

They beat the Infested back to the second floor down, and their advance stalled in the Grand Assembly.  The Infested weren't coming any faster, there was just less space between them. Given less space to spread out, they began swarming in an ever-tightening spiral around the room, with more creatures adding to the outside as the others moved inward.  Soon there would be enough to turn and charge directly at the walls, and the Tenno would be completely overrun. Just as Richard was turning to call to Martin for strategy, a loud scream sounded from above and behind him. Looking up, he saw a Valkyr come crashing through the wall from the upper floor, fall through the air, smash into and through the catwalk, and land on the ground with a loud CRUNCH.  She was on fire, and Richard could tell that she was panicking. "My Hysteria's almost out!" she yelled desperately when she saw Richard's Trinity Prime.

With a glance at Lydia, they agreed it was time to put their experiment into action.  "Artis, cover!" Richard yelled as he snapped an EV onto a charger next to the Nyx pilot, who obliged by channeling Absorb.  Lydia tossed a health restore to the Valkyr as she cast Metamorphosis, temporarily stunning the few chargers who had turned away from the swarm to attack them.  Richard switched his comm channel from Clan-only to Dojo-wide, only to be greeted by the sound of pure chaos. Everyone was in trouble, and the Infested were still coming.  "Darrin," he yelled into the comms, "everyone, stay out of the line of fire for fifteen seconds. I'm gonna try something!" He began meditating, and Lydia moved to stand behind him, putting her hands on his shoulders.  Immediately he felt her Equinox's power blend with his, and he began funneling energy into the light cantrip, just as he'd done with Damien. Realizing that he could always use an energy restore if this worked, and they'd all be dead if he didn't, Richard threw the target limiter on his Trinity Prime wide open.  Immediately he saw all 39 Tenno in the Dojo. Darrin, Artis, and Lydia were the only ones who had full shields, and not even Richard had full health. He was going to need a lot of power for this.

"I'm out of energy over here, boys!" called Martin as his Molecular Prime took out a sizable chunk of the growing Infested funnel.

In that moment, Richard realized that healing everyone wouldn't be enough.  They would need energy. _More power_ , he told Lydia through their thought-link.   _Give me everything you've got_.

 _Richard, are you sure?_ she asked.   _I won't be able to do anything if I give you my entire energy pool_.

 _Let_ **_me_ ** _worry about that_ , he told her as he began calling up commands in his Warframe's interface that he was certain had never been entered before.  You weren't supposed to use Trinity like this, and he wasn't even sure how well it would work. But he had to try. He felt a sudden swell of energy in his pool, and saw that Martin had dropped an energy restore under his feet, the Valkyr had recast Hysteria, and the two were now beating back any Infested who came near them.

"Richard, it's been thirty seconds!" came Darrin's voice over the comms.  "Whatever you're gonna do, you’d better do it soon!"

He had enough energy.  Setting his feet down, he pressed his hands together, compressing the cantrip so it shone even brighter.  "Alex. You did your best to make this world a better place. My turn." He let it go, and his Manifest took over.

Blinding light filled his vision, and when it cleared, what he saw made him stop, stare, and then laugh.  He'd been trying to patch his EV into his Blessing and refill his allies' energy pools at the same time he healed them.  His Manifest had had other ideas. Instead of filling his friends' energy pools, it had instead tagged every single Infested in the Dojo with an EV.  He was still laughing when a worried Lydia waved her hand in front of his face. "Richard, what's wrong? Why are you laughing?"

"Overshields," said Richard, just as a barrage of EV pulses hit them.  Richard's Vampire Leech caused all the excess energy to be converted to overshields, and as her HUD showed her the shield levels of her squadmates, she seemed to realize what had happened.

"Oh, it's SO over," she said, a definite smile in her voice.

"WHEEEEEEEEEE!!!!" someone yelled into the comms at the top of their lungs.

"Vahlin?" came Darrin's concerned voice.  "Where are you _going_?"

"I have _full energy_ !  Where do you _think_ I'm going?" came the reply through drunken laughter.  "It's time to set the World on Fire."

"How can you-oh.  Oh, it's just not _fair_ .  Richard, _what did you_ **_do_ **?"

"I... _uhhh_... I don't actually know," Richard admitted.

"Oh, what the hell, let's just roll with it," said Tak’s voice.

"Chaos!" yelled Artis.  "CHAOS EV-RY-WHEEEEEEEEEERE!!"

"I think it's time to clean up this mess," said Martin, cracking his knuckles.  "Give me a boost?" he asked the Valkyr, who was standing behind him.

She obliged immediately by picking him up and throwing him across the room, directly at the mass of Infested.  While he was still in midair, he let loose a chain of Molecular Prime waves, then turned over in midair and threw a Worm Hole at the Bastille a Vauban had thrown up just as he hit the ground.  The Infested, of course, proceeded to charge him, and were all funneled through the portal. The others naturally opened fire on the suspended targets, and Molecular Prime, together with a myriad of guns, made short work of the remaining Infested in the Grand Assembly.

Similar events were taking place all around the Dojo.  Minutes later, all that was left were a few stragglers scattered around the building.

"That wasn't so bad," remarked the Valkyr as she lowered her helmet, revealing a striking face with black dreadlocks pulled back into a ponytail.  She extended her hand to Richard. "Thank you, Trinity."

"You're quite welcome," Richard replied, lowering his own helmet and shaking her hand.

"Oh," she said, as they released each other's shoulders.  "You're a _male_ Trinity pilot?  I haven't seen one before," she clarified at his expression.

"Ah," he said.  "Yes, I'm Trinity.  My protective instinct borders on mother kubrow sometimes."

"And I see you've been Trinity for a while," said the Valkyr.  "Your Manifest is _ridiculously_ strong."

"Actually," said Richard, "the EV was the only thing the Manifest did.  I can do the heal without a Manifest if I get enough energy."

"I thought Trinity could only hit so many targets, though?”

"The limiter is there to prevent energy drain.  If I can get a large enough source, like another Tenno feeding me power,” he gestured to Lydia, who waved brightly, “I can proc a heal to all friendlies on a planet.  Although I'll admit a Manifest makes it easier," he added, "since you need the ball cantrip to serve as an external energy buffer." She looked confused, so he demonstrated.  "This."

" _Ohh_ ," she said.  "I saw you were holding something while meditating, but I thought it was some special Trinity augment item you could use to do some kind of-super heal.  Good job that Nova had an energy pad. I guess he figured whatever it was you were doing, it wouldn't hurt to have more energy."

"One can never have too much energy," Richard agreed with a laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have (hopefully polite) questions? Have (hopefully relevant) comments? Hell, have any (hopefully at least halfway to quasi-relevant) memes? Drop me a line at sarcasticmathematician @ gmail.com (email address broken to hopefully reduce the amount of crawler-generated flotsam that appears in my inbox) and I'll (maybe) reply in a reasonable* amount of time.
> 
> *the word "reasonable" is hereby defined as "whenever the hell I get around to it, schedule permitting" (what can I say, I'm a busy dude!)

**Author's Note:**

> Have (hopefully polite) questions? Have (hopefully relevant) comments? Hell, have any (hopefully at least halfway to quasi-relevant) memes? Drop me a line at sarcasticmathematician @ gmail.com (email address broken to hopefully reduce the amount of crawler-generated flotsam that appears in my inbox) and I'll (maybe) reply in a reasonable* amount of time.
> 
> *the word "reasonable" is hereby defined as "whenever the hell I get around to it, schedule permitting" (what can I say, I'm a busy dude!)


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